Obama not sure if MMS chief was fired

President Obama said today he wasn't sure whether the director of the Minerals Management Service was fired or resigned.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said this morning that Director Liz Birnbaum had resigned of her "own volition," though other reports suggested she was forced out.

"I found out about her resignation today," Obama said. "Ken Salazar has been in testimony throughout the day. So I don't know the circumstances in which this occurred."

Pressed later on whether Birnbaum had been fired, Obama responded, "I don't know."

MMS has come under criticism for being too cozy with the companies it was supposed to regulate, including BP.

Obama said his administration had not acted quickly enough to change the culture of the agency.

"Absolutely I take responsibility for that. There wasn't sufficient urgency in terms of the pace of how those changes needed to take place," he said, but added that "there's no evidence that some of the corrupt practices that had taken place earlier took place under the current administration's watch."