Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced his resignation Friday. He is the eighth member of President Bush's cabinet to step down since the election.

Thompson's departure was among the cabinet departures that were expected after the election. He said more than a year ago he didn't plan to stay past 2004.

Thompson has had a busy tenure at HHS. He helped shepherd last year's Medicare prescription drug bill into law and helped implement major new programs to detect and combat bioterrorism.

Thompson is currently the co-chairman of the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and HIV.

One goal Thompson didn't achieve was part of what brought him to the department in the first place. As governor of Wisconsin, Thompson was a leader in his state's welfare reform efforts. But Congress so far has been unable to agree on a bill to renew the landmark 1996 welfare law.

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