U.S. Interior Secretary Salazar says stepping down

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday said he will step down from the post at the end of March.   

"I look forward to returning to my family and Colorado,"  Salazar said in a statement.   

Salazar has run the Interior Department throughout President Barack Obama's first term.

Salazar, 57, is the latest Cabinet secretary to leave the administration as Obama heads into his second term. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, defense chief Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis are also leaving. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is widely expected to leave, though his departure has not been announced. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson has announced that she will leave.

The Interior Department oversees management of federal lands - including energy extraction - and is the key agency for Native American issues.


REUTERS/AP