ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz says Human Services Commissioner Tony Lourey resigned because he felt he didn’t have the right skill set to continue leading Minnesota’s largest state agency.

Walz praised the former state senator for shepherding the agency’s budget through this year’s legislative session and preventing the expiration of a tax on health care providers that funds health programs. But he said Lourey told him over the weekend that he didn’t think he was the right person to continue leading the agency going forward.

Lourey’s resignation followed the unexplained resignations last week of his two deputy commissioners. The governor said he’d defer on their future to Acting Commissioner Pam Wheelock, who starts Tuesday. But he said neither deputy was packing up their offices Monday.

Wheelock served as finance commissioner under Gov. Jesse Ventura. She has a lengthy resume of high-profile positions, including as a deputy mayor in St. Paul, a vice president at the University of Minnesota and a top official in the Minnesota Wild’s early years.

The Department of Human Services consumes nearly one-third of state spending, or about $13.3 billion in the current two-year budget, to care for the state’s vulnerable residents. Only schools get more.