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Republican Gregg Set to Be Named by Obama as Commerce Secretary
2009-02-03
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senator Judd Gregg will be named today by President Barack Obama as his choice for commerce secretary, filling the last Cabinet position, according to two White House officials. The announcement, set for later today at the White House, marks another demonstration of Obama’s attempts to advance his agenda by reaching across political lines. If confirmed by the Senate, Gregg would join Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as the third Republican member of Obama’s Cabinet. Gregg’s acceptance of the post suggests he has reached a deal with the administration and New Hampshire’s Democratic governor, John Lynch, to keep the Senate seat in Republican hands. Gregg said yesterday he wouldn’t accept the post at the risk of handing Democrats a 60-vote majority that potentially could force legislation through the Senate. “I have made it clear to the Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle and to the governor that I would not leave the Senate if I felt my departure would cause a change in the makeup of the Senate,” Gregg, 61, said. “The Senate leadership, both Democratic and Republican, and the governor understand this concern and I appreciate their consideration of this position.” Economic Plan From the commerce post, Gregg could become a critical voice in the administration to vouch for the president’s economic policies at a time when Obama’s two-year, more than $800 billion plan to pull the nation out of a recession has run into resistance from congressional Republicans. Gregg “gives the Obama administration a new and valuable conduit to centrist Republicans in the Senate,” said Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The appointment also is likely to be “very pleasing to business groups” because of Gregg’s record, said Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Opponents also know him as easy to work with, she said. “He has a very low-key non-confrontational style,” Fowler said. “He gets along with Democrats.” In the Senate, Gregg is regarded as a deficit hawk and an independent-minded fiscal conservative. He has voiced concerns about the size and makeup of Obama’s stimulus package that may reach $900 billion. TARP Vote Still, he has shown willingness to work with the new administration. Last fall, then-candidate Obama, 47, spoke with Gregg during negotiations over the Treasury’s financial-rescue plan and the two talked before the Senate’s vote last month to release the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program fund. Gregg was one of six Senate Republicans who voted to release the money. Gregg, who chaired the Senate Budget Committee from 2005 to 2007, has called for reining in government spending on Social Security and other federal entitlement programs, which Obama has promised to address. He also helped champion a five-year, $39.7 billion package of cuts to such programs proposed by President George W. Bush. In 2003, he voted against creation of a Medicare prescription drug program for seniors proposed by Bush. He parted with Bush on some social policies, including votes in favor of expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which the president opposed. Iraq War Support At the same time, he was a staunch supporter of Bush’s Iraq policy. Two years ago, he engineered a Senate vote on a resolution he sponsored keeping in place funding for U.S. troops in Iraq. As commerce secretary, Gregg would lead a Cabinet department of about 40,000 people, whose role is to boost the U.S. economy, compile economic data, monitor the weather, adjudicate trade complaints and oversee the Census Bureau. Obama’s first pick to lead the department, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, withdrew last month amid a federal investigation. Democrats currently have 56 seats in the Senate and two independents caucus with them. If Lynch were to appoint a Democrat to replace Gregg and if Democrat Al Franken prevails in the disputed Minnesota race, the party would have a margin to big enough overcome Republican attempts to stall legislation. Next Election The seat would be up for election in 2010. Steve Duprey, former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman who was an adviser to Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, said Democrats will have a shot to claim it then if the Republican appointee doesn’t run. “In essence it would be a completely open seat and we have no incumbent Republican serving either statewide or from a congressional district,” Duprey said. “It will be a significant challenge” to keep it Republican. New Hampshire Republicans speculate Gregg’s most likely replacement would be Bonnie Newman, a Gregg family friend who was also served as his chief of staff when he was in the House. She was executive dean at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 2000-2005, and served in the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Other Republican possibilities include Tom Rath, a former state attorney general, former Representative Charles Bass, former Governor Walter Peterson and former State House Speaker Doug Scamman. To contact the reporters on this story: Hans Nichols in Washington at hnichols2@bloomberg.net ;
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