CE Week #1: “Sen. Judd Gregg considered for commerce secretary”
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
WASHINGTON (AP)
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire said Friday that he’s being considered by President Barack Obama for a Cabinet appointment as head of the Commerce Department. Senior Democrats said the New Hampshire senator is among those at the top of a list for the job, although they emphasized that no move was imminent. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made and they were not authorized to discuss the administration’s thinking. “I am aware that my name is one of those being considered by the White House for secretary of commerce, and am honored to be considered, along with others, for the position,” Gregg said in a statement. “Beyond that there is nothing more I can say at this time.” A Capitol Hill leadership aide said Thursday evening that Obama had talked with his party’s leaders about the move to appoint Gregg, which could put Democrats within reach of a 60-person, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate if New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch were to name a fellow Democrat. Democrats hold a 56-41 majority in the 100-member Senate, and two independents caucus with them. The Senate seat from Minnesota remains undecided, with Sen. Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken in a close, court-based contest. Gregg has said he plans to run for re-election in 2010. He was the GOP’s chief negotiator for the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, a plan unpopular with many Republicans. New Hampshire has been trending toward the Democrats, although independents remain a major force in the “Live Free or Die” state. Obama’s first choice to run the Commerce Department, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, dropped out of consideration amid a grand jury investigation over how state contracts were issued to political donors. White House officials insisted Thursday that no decision had been made. It was also not clear if Lynch — popular, but for many fellow Democrats frustratingly moderate at times — would pick someone out of party loyalty. During the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, Lynch made positive statements about Republican John McCain and attended one of his signature town halls. He also named GOP star Kelly Ayotte his attorney general as part of a centrist governing style that delivered him re-election with 70 percent of the vote. A member of a New Hampshire political family and a policy wonk, Gregg rose through the Senate ranks to serve as chairman of the powerful Budget Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee that funds homeland security. Now in the minority, he is the ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee but still has large sway in the GOP’s response to Obama’s legislative agenda.
Gregg to Be Nominated Tuesday for Commerce Job
By Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray
President Obama will nominate Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) tomorrow for commerce secretary, a White House official said tonight.
The nomination is the last for Obama’s Cabinet. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) was nominated Dec. 3 to head the Commerce Department, but he withdrew his name from consideration a month later because of a federal investigation involving state government contracts.
Gregg appears willing to take the Commerce job, but he announced one condition today: His replacement in the Senate had to be a Republican.
“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 said in a statement.
Over the weekend, White House officials said that Gregg was the leading candidate for the Commerce.
Senate Republicans said they were somewhat mystified by Gregg’s potential move. As the ranking GOP senator on the Budget Committee, Gregg could play a potentially pivotal role in budget and entitlement reform, potentially the most challenging items on Obama’s ambitious to-do list. But if Gregg takes the Cabinet slot, he would likely be replaced as ranking member by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of the most conservative members of the Senate with a highly partisan track record.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, declined to answer questions about Gregg during his daily briefing. “Obviously the president has great respect for Senator Gregg. I’m not going to get into personnel announcements before we are there,” Gibbs said. “And as it relates to picking senators in states that need new senators, I think you can rest reasonably assured that this administration has had nothing and wants nothing to do with that going forward. And I would bold and underline that.”
Lynch is widely expected to appoint a Republican to replace Gregg, someone who could be a caretaker in the seat until the next election, in 2010. But Lynch has not officially said so. In a statement on Monday, Lynch said: “We are in the midst of a national economic crisis, and it calls for cooperation on all of our parts. We all need to work together to do what is in the best interest of our country and our state. I have had conversations with Senator Gregg, the White House and the U.S. Senate leadership. Senator Gregg has said he would not resign his seat in the U.S. Senate if it changed the balance in the Senate. Based on my discussions, it is clear the White House and Senate leadership understand this as well.”
Lynch continued: “It is important that President Obama be able to select the advisers he feels are necessary to help him address the challenges facing our nation.”
In my opinion I do not think that Senator Gregg should be allowed to place the constraint that his replacement be a republican individual. I understand why he sees it prudent to do so, he would not want a strong democrat to take control of that seat and since said Democrat would have the incumbency advantage Gregg would no be as much of a shoo-in for reelection when his position as Head of the Commerce Department, but I do not believe that it is the right thing for him to do nor a completely legal thing to do, it is the Governor’s duty to fill an empty senate seat with an individual who he or she sees most fit to perform the duty and if in the governor’s opinion that individual is a Democrat then they should be allowed to have that seat, the former senator should not have the right to disallow it. It is equivalent to a retiring senator telling election officials that the only people allowed to run for that seat are individuals of his same party. This destroys the democratic principles on which our nation’s elections are run and most likely undermines some article of the constitution regarding representation in the legislative houses.
Connection: Safe seat-Gregg thinks that if a republican is selected to keep his seat warm while he serves as head of the commerce department he will be able to easily return to his seat when his cabinet position expires but if a strong democrat is selected as his replacement he will not have a warm, semi-safe seat but he will also not have the incumbency advantage.
There was some potential surrounding Senator Judd Gregg being appointed President Obama’s Secretary of Commerce. There was potential for Democrats to reach sixty in the Senate which would make any bill they liked filibuster proof. This was until Gregg said he had to be replaced with a Republican. Smart move Gregg, he is obviously looking out for his party in the Senate.
I, like some Senate Republicans, am mystified as to why Gregg would accept a cabinet position. “As the ranking GOP senator on the Budget Committee, Gregg could play a potentially pivotal role in budget and entitlement reform, potentially the most challenging items on Obama’s ambitious to-do list.” This is a very important committee where decisions on how reform is done could be made. Why switch this for Secretary of the treasury?
On a side note, I thought it was interesting that the Governor of New Hampshire is centrist and even though he is Democrat, he is “frustratingly moderate at times.” I think it is interesting that New Hampshire is able to achieve such balance. After all, “He named GOP star Kelly Ayotte his attorney general as part of a centrist governing style that delivered him re-election with 70 percent of the vote.”
Connection: “Skeletons in the Closet.” The whole reason this appointment is coming about is because Bill Richardson had a grand jury investigating how state contracts were issued to political donors. He obviously didn’t want to deal with this so he dropped put of consideration.
I think Senator Gregg is right to make the condition that only a Republican can replace him in the Senate if he leaves. Although people from his administration have stated otherwise, I think President Obama made this move to help him get his legislation through in the Senate. It also makes him look as if he is trying to be bipartisan again. I have to say, for a person who spouts all these ideals about being bipartisan, President Obama has made many decisions and executive orders that have angered the right, especially the conservative right. I am glad that Gregg will be replaced by a conservative when it comes to spending. It is ridiculous that the government is buying and bailing left and right. Yes, that even includes the fact that I am mad that President Bush signed the bailout. I hope that with Gregg as Secretary of Commerce our government can become a little less socialistic in their leanings as it stands right now. I would have to agree with what Dave was saying yesterday in class. If President Obama would come out and make a statement that we need the American people to continue spending if we want to get out of this crisis. That would at least help the economy a little bit considering his approval rating is above 70%.
Connection: My initial reaction to what Lynch said embodies American’s mistrust of government. Although Lynch says President Obama did not make this appointment to further his advantage in the senate, there are many people, including myself, that believe he has other motives. This stems from the general scandals we as Americans have seen in the Presidencies.
This article raised a lot of questions for me. Is there not a deadline date that the President has to elect all of his cabinet members by? I would think that a new president would have to have his potential cabinet members picked out and negotiated with by the time he was sworn in. That way, they could get sworn in to their new offices quickly and things would be able to get done quickly too. Something else that I noticed was that there seems to have been a lot of scandals this year that were unearthed only because of people leaving office in the Senate or House to go to a higher job. First, there was Blagojevich, who was caught selling off Obama’s Senate seat after he got elected. There was the Richardson guy who was chosen to take the job that Gregg is now considering who had to drop out because he got caught offering jobs or something to people who gave him money I think. And there have definitely been more findings than that, I just don’t know what they are. It makes you wonder how many people would be resigning from office if all major politicians were investigated, rather than only those that get considered for a job in the white house.
Connection: Was there anything uncovered about Hillary Clinton when she was being considered for the Secretary of State position? You would think that maybe there would be just because of her husband even if she hadn’t been found of doing anything shady.
This could turn out in a multitude of ways. If everything works out as it is being called; Gregg will have a Republican senator “keeping his seat warm” while he serves as the Commerce Secretary which doesn’t seem that bad since it wouldn’t really change much if Gregg was not getting appointed. Then when it comes to who is to replace him as the ranking member of the Budget Committee, that would put Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)as the ranking member which could quite possibly ruin the attempt of getting any form of bi-partisan budget bills out due to his record.
Then again things could change as far as who is replacing him in the senate. The Democratic Governor, though more moderate, could quite possibly appoint another Democrat. If that were to happen and if Al Franken is elected in Minnesota there will be some very happy Democratic senators who will then be able to toss out the possibilty of a filibuster on anything(giving they keep party loyalties and could filibuster what they please if they choose to use it. As a repercussion of getting those 60 seats there is less of a chance that any bill coming out of or going through the Senate will be very partisan.
Connection: Safe seat: As long as Gregg is appointed he will basically have the seat because he will have the incumbency advantage.
In response to Rachel Damiano:
So what if Obama’s intention is to facilitate the passage of legislature. I say all power to him. Being the president requires him to make such choices. And appointing Gregg for the purpose of putting more Democrats in the senate is good thinking. So what if the decision isn’t 100 percent geared toward partisanship. I’m pretty sure that if the Republicans were in the same position, they’d be doing the same thing. That’s life though.
What peeves me off though is that Gregg said he wouldn’t leave unless he was confident that another Republican replaced him. Whiny much? That’s like accusing Obama of something the Republicans wish they could do. It’s just political strategy. What is anyone going to do about it? Nothing. Why? Because Obama is already the president. If you don’t like it, maybe you should have voted.
But anyway, I’m sure that he’s not just appointing Gregg for the politics of the Senate. He probably has really great qualifying attributes that Obama wants in a position. Obviously, winning with 70 percent of the vote means that somebody likes him. The last line of the article just seemed kind of odd:
“It is important that President Obama be able to select the advisers he feels are necessary to help him address the challenges facing our nation.”
I just feel like the Republican pot is calling the Democratic kettle black (No racial pun intended). Politicians are like any game players: they want to win. And most will do whatever they can to do so. That’s one of the things that makes this country kind of cool. No crazy dictator will shoot you if you do something like that.