WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Don Evans have resigned their posts, kicking off a series of cabinet changes in the White House after President George W. Bush won his second, four-year term in office last week.
The White House said Bush on Tuesday had accepted both resignations. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said it was not yet clear who would replace Ashcroft, 62, and Evans, 58.
Political observers have named former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, who if tapped would become the first African-American to head up US law enforcement, as possible replacements for Ashcroft.
Cabinet overhauls are common features of presidential second terms, and several other high-profile departures were expected -- including that of Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The New York Times on Wednesday said Treasury Secretary John Snow would probably step down within the next six months to a year, and White House National Economic Council director Stephen Friedman was also under consideration to replace Robert Zoellick as US trade representative.
"I believe that the Department of Justice would be well served by new leadership and fresh inspiration. I believe that my energies and talents should be directed toward other challenging horizons," Ashcroft wrote Bush.
"While the promise of your second term shines bright, I have concluded with deep regret that it is time for me to return home," to Texas, said Evans, one of Bush`s oldest and closest friends.
Evans and Ashcroft were no strangers to controversy: The commerce secretary drew fire for suggesting that job losses on Bush`s watch were a myth, while the attorney general, a deeply religious conservative, was a perpetual lightning rod for opposition Democrats.
Some critics assailed Ashcroft over the Patriot Act, legislation that broadened law enforcement powers after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, saying it did so at the expense of civil liberties.
"John Ashcroft has worked tirelessly to help make our country safer," Bush said in a statement released by the White House.
"During his four years at the Department of Justice, John has transformed the Department to make combating terrorism the top priority," he said.
In an implicit knock at critics, Ashcroft wrote in his resignation letter that "Americans have been spared the violence and savagery of terrorist attack on our soil since September 11, 2001."
And the former senator also celebrated that: "During the last four years, our violent crime rate has plunged to a 30-year low."
However, Ashcroft said in a letter to department employees that it "would be the height of arrogance to assume we achieved this alone."
"The Psalms remind us: `Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stands guard in vain`."
"I express my gratitude to God for the each day the sun rises on a free and safe America," the devout Ashcroft wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union, in a statement, described Ashcroft as "one of the most divisive forces in the entire Bush administration," whose legacy has been "an open hostility to protecting civil liberties and an outright disdain for those who dare question his policies."
More than the mere replacement of Ashcroft, the rights group urged a "wholesale reexamination of the Justice Department policies that trample on civil liberties and human rights."
"We need an attorney general who recognizes that security and liberty are not mutually exclusive and who recognizes that we can -- and must -- be both safe and free," said the ACLU.
Regarding Evans, Bush said in a statement that: "To encourage job creation here at home, Don has worked closely with me to reduce taxes, open markets for American goods and services, and promote a level playing field abroad."
"Don shares my belief that the promise of America means our best days lie ahead. Together, we have worked to make that a reality," said the president.
Bush has already signalled that White House chief of staff Andy Card will stay on for another four years.

11/10/2004 - 11:47 GMT - AFP