Colin Powell announced that he is resigning. While not totally unexpected, it comes on the heels of Ashcroft and Evans, and the shakeup at the CIA. Reuters
And now this:

I don't know if Powell is one of those four, but it looks like some major shakin' going on.

Update: Be afraid...be very afraid...

What do you think is the reason for all the resignations?

Are the resignations voluntary, or are they being “asked” to leave?

What does the reshuffle of the cabinet mean for this administration? And for us, the American people?

Powell and 3 others leaving cabinet


What do you think is the reason for all the resignations?

Wanna bet what I, as a Democrat, think is the reason for all the resignations?

Let's look at the cabinet positions themselves:

• Energy: Yeah, that's the one where Vice President Dick Cheney refused to divulge who attended the Task Force--might be that Spencer Abraham was trying to make progress in an area where the status quo was valued over progress, but I have no evidence to back this up, or Cheney just stepped in and Abraham felt marginalized and unappreciated. It's sort of like when Christie Todd Whitman was actually working on cleaning up the environment--sometimes what is said to be and what really is expected from a Cabinet appointee are not the same thing.
• Agriculture: Can't comment on it. I don't know Ann Veneman or agriculture policies that well.
• State: The general who is a reluctant, yet intelligent and intrepid warrior, Colin Powell was against attacking Iraq in the first place. He has taken a lot of flack for the President in this role, and he has shown himself to be an impeccable public servant. But he has been doing the bidding of the President on policies that he has personal opposition to, and it must be hard on him. It's probably a matter of personal integrity, as well as the hassles.
• Education: Just what has the Bush administration done for public education in this nation, aside from mandating a uniform, standardized test and paying for the administration of the test but virtually nothing else? Who knows how many ideas Secretary Paige came up with to improve our nation's educational system, and how many times he had to just sit on them because the President would not meet with him due to "more pressing business"? Again, though, this is merely my speculation

Are the resignations voluntary, or are they being “asked” to leave?
They're probably mixed. At a certain level of occupation (i.e., the Cabinet), appointees, unless they've done something really stupid or embarrassing to the administration, will not be "fired" in a public way. Instead, they get to go "spend more time with [their] family."

This is one clear area where George W. Bush is a pro-family President!

What does the reshuffle of the cabinet mean for this administration? And for us, the American people?
It means that George W. Bush means to pursue his agendas fully now, without need for pretense in order to be re-elected. My dad used to say that it was best not to go to a carnival and go on the rides on the last night--by then the carnies were good and fed up with the local people attending, and the rides were typically operated much more roughly when they were not going to be there the next day.

What it means for the American people is that we will finally see who George W. Bush really is as President--what actually matters to him, and what does not.

What do you think is the reason for all the resignations?

In other nations, I have long noticed a phrase in their governments. "A vote of no confidence." has toppled governments as effectively as an impeachment process in America. That was how I voted on Election Day, and the feeling I have is that GWB's Cabinet members and staff have been issuing such votes with their feet, and their published stories of life inside this White House.

Are the resignations voluntary, or are they being “asked” to leave?

Perhaps they are a mix of both. This President has made it clear that his management skills came straight out Spaghetti Western movies. "Wanted Dead or Alive," "You're either with us or against us," and other such phrases have probably extended to telling some of his staff, "This town isn't big enough for the two of us." On the flip side, I am certain that some of them, on their own, decided that if they couldn't influence the President from within his inner circle, they were treading water on a dead end job. Sometimes, you just have to walk away from a job...

What does the reshuffle of the cabinet mean for this administration? And for us, the American people?

For the administration, it will mean making new choices, selling people on the idea that taking a pay cut for the prestige is worth it, (and that maybe they will be listened to...) and of course, inevitable battles with the Senate to confirm the new nominees. It will mean, for awhile that no one is in charge of these departments, causing some disruption in the day to day functioning of the bureaucracies...

To this President, the effects may be minimal..

Energy: The lights and heat will stay on at the White House, Air Force one and the Presidential motorcade will be kept fueled, and he will likely still have enough gas in Crawford to demonstrate his prowess with a chainsaw.

Agriculture: Being President means there will always be food on the table, and that you can be oblivious to scanners and UPC codes, let alone the cost of groceries.

State: GWB is quite capable of insulting the French, abusing the British, and trampling on the rights of other nations in his role as CEO of the Free World... He might have to actually speak to the United Nations directly on occasion until a replacement for Colin Powell is found, but I doubt if he would feel obligated to answer anyone's questions.

Education: This President strikes me as a man who, having diplomas on the wall, sees no further need for continuing his education. His speeches on the campaign trail left me with a feeling that he felt every American would some day have a college diploma and a job in upper management. It somehow seems to have eluded him that America's businesses need laborers in order to have a product. Perhaps he might want to appoint Garrison Keillor as Secretary of Education aiming at a goal of having an America where "All of our children are above average." (It's too bad we can't say the same for our leaders!)

What do you think is the reason for all the resignations?

This is a very normal thing to have happen in Washington following the re-election of the President. Just a quick check for example on Clinton's second term shows that at least the Secretaries of Defense and State both left after his first term. Probably a few others as well. I think the jobs are pretty stressful and people figure four years is long enough. Bottom line is that there is nothing unusual here.

Are the resignations voluntary, or are they being “asked” to leave?

No way to really know the answer to this one, but I think it is most likely a case of being voluntary because they weren't asked to stay. In Powell's case, I heard that he met with President Bush on last Thursday for a private discussion. I suspect it was a rather frank discussion about Sec. Powell's future and whether he was inclined to put in another four years or not. It is possible that the President indicated that if Powell didn't want to stay for the entire second term, it would be best for him to leave now. Just a gut feel on my part. I don't think he was "fired" though.


What does the reshuffle of the cabinet mean for this administration? And for us, the American people?

I don't think that most will notice any difference one way or the other. The President still sets policy and I don't see a radical departure in most areas for him in his second term. There will probably be some lower profile people in the cabinet in the second term and that might lead to less attention paid to the individuals involved, even though the policies are the same.

I find it difficult to answer the question as asked because I doubt that there is just one "reason" for "all the resignations". I must agree with Aquilla though, that cabinet-member turnover following Presidential re-elections has always been the rule rather than the exception. I imagine one factor could be that cabinet-level service is challenging and quite stressful considering the compensation recieved by folks who could propbably do a lot better in the private sector Whatever the reason(s) for the resignation(s), in addition to being occasion for thoughtful speculation, it certainly is an opportunity for (bi-) partisan spin.



As has been reported so far, at least one is voluntary. Colin Powell just said that he has always said, and it has been known, that he intended to serve one term. I will refrain from calling him a liar unless/until he is proven to be one.

Still waiting to hear from the other resigning cabinet-members.



This is just my opinion of course, but I think that this question is extremely broad for just one thread. Literally thousands of possible questions and answers here. I suppose I can go as far as opining that: 1) There will be new employees at the white house, and 2) Stuff may or may not happen.

That's a very good question. Usually, an administration does this when things aren't going its way. The Bush administration has gotten everything it wanted, except a clean solution for Iraq. Either a big push for resolving Iraq is underway or a big push for the domestic agenda. I think the latter, but we will see.

Can’t make my mind up whether this is good or bad.

I was hoping for a bit more continuity between the two administrations. I think one of the weaknesses in our system is the loss of knowledge/experience in the cabinet when a new president is elected although I’m a firm believer in ‘to the victors goes the spoils’.

This administration has been through a lot and has made some tough decisions. It just leaves me a bit worried that we’re loosing the thought process behind those decisions and the lessons learned even if I didn't necessarily agree with those decisions.

The only resignation I was happy to see was Ashcroft. Its still is hard for me to believe this guy lost his first senate re-election bid to a dead man but was some how an ideal candidate for Attorney General.