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resident Bush has selected former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik to run the Department of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøland Security.

Kerik helped oversee the city's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2003, Kerik took on a temporary assignment in Iraq to help rebuild the country's police force, the Associated Press reported. His nomination requires Senate approval.

Also Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson resigned. He became the eighth member of Bush's 15-person first-term Cabinet to depart.

Earlier this week, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøland Security Secretary Tom Ridge resigned from the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøland position. In October 2001, he became the nation's first White House homeland security adviser.

Congress subsequently passed legislation establishing the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøland Security Department, merging 180,000 employees from 22 government agencies. Ridge became the department's first secretary in January 2003.

In October, President Bush signed $33 billion legislation to fund the department for the current fiscal year. It included $5.1 billion for the Transportation Security Administration, and money for port and bridge security.