Goodbye Tom! 

Tom Ridge Is Leaving Homeland Security Post 

KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER / AP 30nov04

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, whose name became synonymous with color-coded terror alerts and tutorials to the public about how to prepare for possible attack, is stepping down, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Mr. Ridge submitted his resignation in writing to President Bush on Tuesday morning, said officials who confirmed the departure only on grounds of anonymity.

In an e-mail circulated to Homeland Security officials, Mr. Ridge praised the department as "an extraordinary organization that each day contributes to keeping America safe and free." He also said he was privileged to work with the department's 180,000 employees "who go to work every day dedicated to making our country better and more secure."

A Washington news conference was scheduled for mid-afternoon.

A Homeland Security Department official said Mr. Ridge is expected to stay on the job for a few months until a successor is found. Some officials expect the U.S. may face increased terror risks around the holidays and the Jan. 20 inauguration.

Among those mentioned as possible candidates for Mr. Ridge's successor are Bernard Kerik, interim Minister of the Interior for Iraq and former New York City police commissioner, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt and White House homeland security adviser Fran Townsend. Others are also believed to be interested in the job, including Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security in the Homeland Security Department.

Six other Bush cabinet figures are leaving, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, Education Secretary Rod Paige, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman; Secretary of State Colin Powell and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Mr. Bush has chosen national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for the State Department, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales for the Justice Department and Carlos Guitierrez for Commerce.

In October 2001, Mr. Ridge became the nation's first White House homeland security adviser, leading a massive undertaking to rethink all aspects of security within the U.S. borders in the wake of the terror attacks of September 2001. Congress subsequently passed legislation establishing the Homeland Security Department, merging 180,000 employees from 22 government agencies. Mr. Ridge became the department's first secretary in January 2003.

He has presided over six national "orange alerts" when the government boosted security out of concern that an attack may be coming, but an attack in the U.S. never happened on his watch.

Mr. Ridge has said that he believes an assault by the al Qaeda terrorist network was averted last summer during the Fourth of July holiday period, when intelligence reports indicated terrorists might be targeting international flights. He fought criticism leading up to the election from those who said he was using terror warnings to boost support for Mr. Bush. Mr. Ridge repeatedly said: "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security."

Mr. Ridge, 59 years old, has privately expressed his interest in moving out of the time-consuming, stressful post. However, those who know him said his loyalty to Mr. Bush was always a factor to consider.

Mr. Ridge, who has spent most of his adult life in public service, came home from Vietnam, earned a law degree and went into private practice in Pennsylvania. He later served as an assistant district attorney and ran for Congress in 1982. He was re-elected five times and became the Pennsylvania governor in 1995, leaving the state capital in October 2001 after the White House called.

Cabinet Shuffle

Seat 			    Current Holder 	Future? 	Successor? 
Justice 		    John Ashcroft 	Resigned 	TBA 
Defense 		    Donald Rumsfeld 	May stay 
State 			    Colin Powell 	Resigned 	Condoleezza Rice 
Homeland Security 	    Tom Ridge 		Resigned 	TBA 
Treasury 		    John Snow 		May stay 
Agriculture 		    Ann Veneman 	Resigned 	TBA 
Interior 		    Gail Norton 	No plans 
Commerce 		    Don Evans 		Resigned 	Carlos Guitierrez 
Labor 			    Elaine Chao 	No plans 
Education 		    Rod Paige 		Resigned 	Margaret Spellings 
Energy 			    Spencer Abraham 	Resigned 	TBA 
Transportation		    Norman Mineta 	May leave 
Health & Human Services     Tommy Thompson 	May leave 
Veterans Affairs 	    Anthony Principi 	No plans 
Housing & Urban Development Alphonso Jackson 	No plans 

Homeland Security's Ridge Joins The Exodus From Bush's Cabinet 

ROBERT BLOCK / Wall Street Journal 1dec04

WASHINGTON — As changes in President Bush's cabinet continued, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he will step down as soon as a successor is found to head his department, one of the government's largest and most complicated operations.

Mr. Ridge told a news conference that he will remain in office at least until Feb. 1, and he said he is leaving the country much safer today than before the department was created two years ago. He cautioned, however, that much work remains, particularly in improving cooperation with America's international partners in the fight against terrorism and in getting the private sector to invest more in securing vital infrastructure.

"There will always be more to do, but today, America is significantly stronger and safer than ever before," Mr. Ridge wrote in his resignation letter to the president.

Seven of 15 members of Mr. Bush's cabinet have resigned since the president won a second term last month. The Homeland Security department is expected to play a major role in the president's campaign against terrorism. Nevertheless, observers have suggested that finding a heavyweight successor to Mr. Ridge may be difficult because of political infighting, administrative headaches and money shortages in a huge new government bureaucracy still experiencing growing pains.

One name that has frequently surfaced as a contender is Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security undersecretary for border and transportation security. Officials inside the department say that Mr. Hutchinson has been lobbying intensely for the secretary's job. Other possible successors include Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Admiral James Loy; Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson; White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend; New York Gov. George Pataki; former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik; Rep. Chris Cox (R., Calif.), Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former Utah governor and current EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt.

Mr. Ridge, a former Republican congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, became the nation's first homeland security adviser in October 2001, leading a massive undertaking to re-evaluate all aspects of security within the U.S. borders following the Sept. 2001 attacks. The result was the biggest government reorganization since World War II, bringing 22 government agencies with homeland, immigration and border-security responsibilities into one department that opened its doors in March 2003. It has experienced many problems attributed to its newness, inefficiencies and the administrative challenge of having to stitch together so many government entities and roughly 180,000 employees into a new organization.

"I think we have accomplished a great deal in a short period of time," Mr. Ridge said.

Democrats and Republicans alike hailed Mr. Ridge's tenure at the head of the department that oversaw the hardening of cockpit doors in airplanes and the introduction of fingerprint- and face-recognition technology in airports and along the border to help track foreign visitors to the U.S. Mr. Ridge presided over six national "orange alerts" against possible terror strikes, and none happened on his watch.

But the department's inspector general has said that at times Mr. Ridge tried to prevent critical reports on the department from being made public or reaching Congress. Mr. Ridge also has been faulted internally for handing over many of the department's counterterrorist law-enforcement powers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the run-up to the presidential election, Mr. Ridge also fended off accusations that he was using the terror warnings to boost support for the president. Mr. Ridge repeatedly dismissed the complaints, saying, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security."

"He will be remembered as an affable cabinet secretary who had lots of good will and the very best intentions, but who ultimately didn't manage to pull this huge merger off terribly well," said Daniel Prieto of the Homeland Security Partnership Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mr. Ridge said he had no immediate career plans. Those around him, though, have said that his exit plan is part of a political strategy to build a base to prepare for a possible 2008 presidential bid. In 2000, Mr. Bush considered him as a potential running mate.

Page A4