Acting Secretary of Agriculture Quits
John R. Norton III, the acting secretary of agriculture, announced Wednesday that he was quitting after five days on the job.
Norton, who gave no reason for the resignation, was not available for comment.
Norton had been serving in the post since the departure of John R. Block. He holds extensive farming interests in California and Arizona and is the former head of the J. R. Norton Co.
Shane Johnson, a department spokesman, said that Norton’s resignation would be effective immediately, “depending on whether the President” accepts it.
The new acting secretary of agriculture will be Frank W. Naylor Jr., who is now undersecretary for small community and rural development programs, Johnson said.
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