President Bush will nominate former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to replace Tom Ridge as Homeland Security secretary. Kerik helped lead New York’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and often appeared along-side Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Bush will also nominate Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns to lead the Department of Agriculture.
These nominations follow a round of resignations since Bush won reelection that account for nearly half of his cabinet. Additionally, U.N. Ambassador John Danforth announced that he will be resigning from his position after only six months on the job.
UPDATE 12/03/2004 12:20 p.m.—Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, will resign. Thompson joins seven previous cabinet-level resignations. The eight resignations so far account for about 53 percent of President Bush’s 15-member cabinet.