http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137610,00.html
WASHINGTON — John Ashcroft is expected to turn in his resignation in a ritual reserved for second-term presidents, sources close to the attorney general said Thursday. Ashcroft could leave as early as January.
As a formality, when a president earns a second term, his entire Cabinet, which serves at the president’s pleasure, resigns so as not to force him to fire them. Traditionally, the president refuses to accept the resignation of those who are likely to stay in their posts.