'Top Kill' at MMS

Liz Birnbaum is out as head of the Minerals Management Service, the AP reports. That's hardly suprising, given all the bad press the agency has received in the wake of the Gulf spill -- especially this week.

The timing's a bit odd, though, given that spill response commander Thad Allen says the "top kill" effort to plug the leak is working, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And if Thad Allen says it, you can take it to the bank, right?

UPDATE, 4:37 p.m. Kind of an odd statement from President Obama today on Birnbaum's departure: "I found out about her resignation today. Ken Salazar has been in testimony throughout the day, so I don't know the circumstances in which this occurred." It's a little hard to imagine it wasn't on his radar screen that the head of MMS was about to bail--or be forced out -- given what's been going on the past few weeks.