He later became justice minister, serving from 1997 to March 1998, and interior minister, holding that office from March 1998 to May 1999, when he was appointed and confirmed by parliament as prime minister. Yeltsin made it fairly clear when he appointed him Prime Minister that Stepashin would only hold the position temporarily, and he was replaced in August 1999 by future president Vladimir Putin.
Following his resignation from the position of Prime Minister, Stepashin joined the political party Yabloko for the Russian parliamentary elections of 1999 and was elected to the Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. Later on he resigned his parliamentary seat and became head of the Accounts Chamber of Russia, the federal audit agency. He holds his job to date.
Boris Yeltsin stated in 2005 that he considered Sergei Stepashin for his successor for President but was unhappy with his lack of enthusiasm over the Chechen War.citation needed