Susan Rice no longer a candidate for Secretary of State

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice has withdrawn as a candidate for President Obama’s new Secretary of State in the face of relentless Republican opposition. “On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state. I made this decision because it is the right step for this country I love,” said Rice. Rice stated that she withdrew in order to spare the Obama administration the “lengthy, disruptive and costly” dispute over remarks she made regarding the attack on the US embassy in Libya that killed four Americans. “This was my decision,” Rice said, adding that President Obama “understood that this was the right decision, and that I made it for the right reasons.”

“The position of secretary of state should never be politicised,” Rice wrote. “As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship … I am saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”

“We’re talking about comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, that’s what matters, and to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted or deflected or maybe even some of these priorities impossible to achieve, I didn’t want that and I’d much prefer to continue doing what I’m doing, which is a job I love at the United Nations.”

Her withdrawal leaves Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John F. Kerry as the apparently undisputed candidate for the position.