That’s what CNN and the Associated Press are reporting. President Bush is holding a press conference at 1 p.m.
This is obviously big news. Is it law-related? Yes, insofar as the global “war on terror” has raised a whole host of thorny legal issues: treatment of terror detainees, appropriate interrogation methods under the Geneva Convention, etc. A new Secretary of Defense may approach these issues in a different way.
(Also, even though Secretary Rumsfeld is not a lawyer, back in 1982 he served as Presidential Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty. And as everyone knows, maritime law is the bomb.)
GOP Says Rumsfeld Stepping Down [Associated Press]
Donald H. Rumsfeld bio [U.S. Department of Defense]