Posted on 08/23/2002 6:25:04 PM PDT by GeneD
Filed at 8:53 p.m. ET
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday he is not committed to staying in his job past February and is entertaining offers to return to the private sector.
Thompson, who was Wisconsin's governor for 14 years before taking the Washington job in February 2001, told President Bush when he took the job he would stay for two years.
``I certainly will comply with that,'' Thompson said after a health event at Madison's Meriter Hospital. ``If he wants me to stay after the election, we'll sit down and talk. But I'm not making any commitments at this point in time.''
There has been some speculation that Thompson, who has run afoul of conservatives for his support of embryonic stem-cell research, might be the first Cabinet member to leave the Bush administration.
Thompson said Bush recently asked him to stay on into a potential second term.
``I'm very gratified he asked me to stay,'' Thompson said.
But he added he has received offers from individuals in the private sector, although he did not elaborate on the details.
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