Nation in brief: Bush spokesman plans an early exit

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Friday he’ll leave before the end of the Bush presidency because he needs to make more money.

“I’m going to stay as long as I can,” he said without elaborating on a departure date.

Snow’s comment caught White House colleagues by surprise, and they said they could not hazard a guess about when he might leave.

The 52-year-old Snow, the father of three children, earns $168,000 as an assistant to the president but made considerably more as a conservative pundit and syndicated talk-show host on Fox News Radio. He was named press secretary on April 26, 2006.

Mexican trucks get more access

Some Mexican trucks will be allowed to carry cargo anywhere in the United States as soon as a federal inspector general certifies safety and inspection plans, the Bush administration announced Friday.

The latest step toward implementing a controversial provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement drew instant condemnation from labor and driver-owner groups that fear the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs.

The decision was announced by a Transportation Department notice in the Federal Register.

FDA backs off on lab closures

The Food and Drug Administration canceled plans Friday to close more than half its field laboratories.

The proposed closures, part of a reorganization of field operations, previously had been suspended to await recommendations from a presidential panel about how to better guarantee the safety of imported food and other products.

Congress has been investigating the plan, including whether it would give to private companies some food safety work now performed by government employees. Lawmakers also had introduced legislation to block the closures.

FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said in an e-mail that Friday’s announcement left open the possibility of future changes.

From wire reports