WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Undersecretary for Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson resigned from office Monday, submitting his letter of resignation to the White House.
Hutchinson, who resigned his seat in Congress to join the Bush administration, was the first to hold the No. 2 spot in the nation's newest Cabinet agency. His resignation comes after he was twice passed over for the department's top post.
Earlier this month, the president selected Michael Chertoff, a federal judge and former mob prosecutor, to head the department after his first nominee, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, withdrew his name from consideration.
"It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Hutchinson, whose resignation is effective March 1, is considering a possible gubernatorial run in Arkansas, where the current chief executive -- Republican Gov. Mike Hukabee -- must leave office in 2006 because of term limits
