The No. 2 official at the Justice Department plans to leave his position, The Washington Post reports.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole announced Thursday that he plans to resign after nearly four years. The official says that Cole will remain in the position to help the transition of a new deputy attorney general.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced several weeks ago that he will leave the department once a successor is confirmed.
As Holder's deputy, Cole was involved in prison re-entry programs and a new clemency initiative for federal inmates.
He also was involved in the decision to secretly subpoena telephone records of Associated Press reporters and editors in a national security leak investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.