Homeland Security deputy steps down

James Loy, deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, announced his resignation Saturday, and it will be effective March 1 or when a successor is named.

"His vision and commitment to the protection of our country during the department's early years will have a lasting effect for years to come," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a statement.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., also said Loy has been one of the "federal government's foremost strategic thinkers and innovative managers of the past decade."

Cox also said Loy's departure will be "doubly painful" because Ridge is leaving the department "and replacements of their caliber will be hard to find."

Before serving as deputy secretary, Loy was commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1998 to 2001.