Energy Secretary Steven Chu Leaving, Too

President Obama has another Cabinet post to fill: Energy Secretary Steven Chu is stepping down as soon as a successor is confirmed by the Senate, reports Politico. Chu is a Nobel winner in physics who made green spending a priority, even if it occasionally backfired, as in the Solyndra debacle. At a policy summit yesterday, for example, Chu said he was confident that hybrids and electric cars were going to play a big role in US transportation in the coming decades, reports US News & World Report.

"We need an infrastructure for charging," he said. "We want a diverse choice for transportation other than just oil-based." His departure makes Obama's second-term shuffle even larger, given that it already includes changes at labor, treasury, transportation, the interior, secretary of state, defense, the EPA, and the CIA. (More Obama Cabinet stories.)