Christie Whitman resigns

05/21/03 | AP

[since1868]

June 27, has often been at odds with the White House over environmental issues. In a letter to President Bush, she said she was leaving to spend time with her family.

"As rewarding as the past two-and-a-half years have been for me professionally, it is time to return to my home and husband in New Jersey, which I love just as you do your home state of Texas," she wrote Bush.

Whitman had been the administration's point person in rolling back environmental protections initiated by previous administrations.

As his re-election campaign gears up, Bush's senior staff and advisers consider the next few months as optimum time to leave the government; otherwise, they will be expected to remain aboard until after the 2004 election. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer announced Monday that he will resign in July.

Bush will be under pressure to replace Whitman with a nominee who will be acceptable to his GOP supporters without alienating swing voters.

Whitman, 56, met with Bush at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to inform him of her decision, the agency said.

Prior to becoming EPA chief in January 2001, Whitman served for seven years as the 50th governor of New Jersey -- the first female ever to hold that position.

Critics said that in the name of attracting businesses, she compromised water pollution protections and cut spending for state offices that prosecute environmental abuses by industry. Whitman, an avid mountain biker and skier, insisted she retained needed protections while eliminating red tape.

When the Bush administration took office, Whitman had only the briefest honeymoon. Within the first three months, she had upset industry executives and conservationists, disappointed moderates who like her and angered conservatives who don't.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth wasted little time in urging her to resign, saying that her credibility has been undermined. But Whitman stood steadfastly behind Bush, even when their own disagreements over the international global warming treaty became public.

As she did while New Jersey governor, Whitman frequently hit the road for official as well as political trips around the country. But she said her goal was to spend weekends, when possible, back home in New Jersey. "It's important for my sanity," she said.

Whitman previously headed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (search).

She grew up in Hunterdon County, N.J., and earned a bachelor's degree in government from Wheaton College in Massachusetts in 1968. She is married to John R. Whitman and has two children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Incorrigible]

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[Destructor]

So long Christie! Don't let the door knob hit ya where 'th good Lord split ya!!