SAIPAN — Governor David M. Apatang has designated Natalia M. Sablan, Internal Auditor, as Acting Secretary for the Department of Finance effective Saturday, August 29, according to a delegation-of-authority memorandum issued to all department and activity heads.
The designation, GOV 2026-551, is dated Friday and runs until further notice. It takes effect one day after the last day in office of Finance Secretary Tracy Norita, whose resignation, effective October 8, was first reported by NMI News Service on Wednesday. Norita’s resignation letter stated her final day in the office would be August 28, with her remaining annual leave carrying through the effective date.
“Please extend your full cooperation and assistance to Ms. Sablan as she assumes this additional responsibility,” Apatang wrote in the memo, signed alongside the letterhead of Lt. Governor Dennis James C. Mendiola.
Sablan takes over the department days after the governor signed a Saipan local law appropriating $991,460.12 toward the NMI Settlement Fund’s 25 percent retiree pension payment, among the immediate matters on Finance’s desk during the transition.
The governor’s office has not announced a nominee for a permanent secretary, an appointment that would require Senate advice and consent.
