Mr. Cardenas spurned a request to step down to help defeat the governing party.
Pope Benedict XVI, he said Wednesday, approved his latest request to step down.
"It is with great reluctance that President Obama and I have acceded to Carlos's request" to step down, Clinton said in a statement.
Referring to Ms. Block and Mr. Griffin, a Republican Senate aide said: "The fact that these two individuals who were unconstitutionally appointed have not acceded to the request to step down until this is resolved isn't positive for their eventual confirmation.
A statement by the Senate Republican leadership said Mr. Craig had "agreed to comply" with a request to step down as the top Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committeee, on the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, and the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.
A meeting between Mr. Klein and Ms. Lam later that evening was described by one official as tense, and the official said that Ms. Lam initially resisted the request to step down.
The move comes a month after the inquiry chairman, Judge John Gomery, rejected their request to step down for the comments, made in media interviews, including one in which he described Mr. Chrétien's distribution of golf balls imprinted with his initials as "small-town cheap".
HONG KONG — Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the highest official of the Roman Catholic Church in China and a sharp critic of Beijing's record on democratic rights and religious freedoms, said Wednesday that the Vatican had agreed to his request to step down next year as the head of the Diocese of Hong Kong, news agencies reported.
Given yesterday's courtroom theatrics -- a defense motion for a mistrial and an impromptu request to step down from the case -- the defense team's next move is unclear.
Six-time defending Serie A champions Juventus had said they would not request Agnelli to step down if he was found guilty.
Byrd said Wednesday that she would consider Gov. Mike Johanns' request for her to step down, saying she would do so if she decided that would be best for her office.
