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"Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic," he told State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois. "But ultimately, I think, we're going to just keep on making efforts to build the kind of bipartisan consensus around important issues that I think the American people are looking for." ... White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement late Thursday afternoon saying "we regret that he has had a change of heart." "Sen. Gregg reached out to the president and offered his name for secretary of commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies,...

OBAMA BURNED: GREGG WITHDRAWS AFTER POLICIES TOO MUCH TO STOMACH Thu Feb 12 2009 16:18:14 ET For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 12, 2009 Senator Gregg Statement on His Withdrawal for Consideration of U.S. Commerce Secretary Sen. Gregg stated, “I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle. “However, it has become apparent during this...

A rather pointed statement from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: “Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart.”

House Republicans will defend the integrity of the U.S. Census at a Capitol Hill press conference on Thursday. On Wednesday, they sent a letter to President Barack Obama, expressing “grave concerns” about the administration’s plan to transfer control of the 2010 Census to White House staffers. Doing so would result in “the unprecedented politicization of the Census and open the door to massive waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer funds, billions of which are distributed on the basis of Census data,” Republicans wrote. Republicans note that an estimated $300 billion in taxpayer funding is distributed by the federal...

Sen. Gregg withdraws nomination as Sec. Commerce

The last time a Democratic President asked a New Hampshire Republican to serve in his Cabinet, a move was made at the next Republican National Convention to formally run the fellow out of the Grand Old Party. Cooler heads prevailed. We don't expect the same fate to befall Sen. Judd Gregg, but he may want to keep history in mind. Frank Knox was the New Hampshire Republican in question. His party bona fides were unquestioned up until the call from Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940 on the eve of World War II. Four years earlier, Knox had been the Republican...

Conservatives clearly have more than enough reason to worry because all of the praise being heaped on her by New Hampshire Democrats suggests she won't be as reliable as the least dependable of the GOP's current sitting Senators. Newman, after all, endorsed Lynch when he first sought the governorship in 2002 against the sitting governor, Republican Craig Benson. And she has described herself as a "reasonable Republican" - not exactly the kind of self-identification that suggests she has an altogether favorable impression of her own party. Lynch's selection of Newman, who has already indicated she will not seek a full...

Gregg is nominated to be Secretary of Commerce. Just in time to remove him from the Senate negotiations and vote on Porkulus Maximus. Latino thugs -- backed by ACORN (which is getting $4B from Porkulus to throw all future elections to the Dems) -- whine that they don't trust Gregg to be fair in doing the 2010 census. The One announces that, due to concerns of minorities, the census will be moved to Rahm Emanuel's office, since Emanuel is the perfect, impartial official who can be trusted. Late 2009: Gregg is removed as SECCOM for "not being a team player"...

Sen. Judd Gregg yesterday declined all comment on reports that the White House will strip him of his authority over the federal Census Bureau even before he becomes Secretary of Commerce. Gregg spokesman Laena Fallon said all comment would come from the White House. The Census Bureau is a key part of the Department of Commerce. The Capitol Hill publication Congressional Quarterly yesterday reported that the White House, responding to minority groups' concerns about Gregg's commitment to funding the census, has decided to have the director of the Census Bureau report directly to the White House. Minorities are traditionally concerned...

The director of the Census Bureau will report directly to the White House and not the secretary of Commerce, according to a senior White House official. The decision came after black and Hispanic leaders raised questions about Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg ’s commitment to funding the census. Gregg, New Hampshire’s senior senator, voted in committee and on the floor for a 1995 Republican budget that envisioned the elimination of the Commerce Department. Of even more concern to black and Hispanic leaders, Gregg battled President Clinton over a request for “emergency” funding for the 2000 census. “Secretary of Commerce-designate Judd...

J. Bonnie Newman, the woman poised to become New Hampshire's newest senator, has spent 40 years moving among high-profile jobs in politics, academia and the business world. But even for her colleagues and admirers, the precise contours of Newman's personal politics are unclear. Newman, a 63-year-old Republican, has never run for public office, never cast a legislative vote, never outlined a campaign platform. Colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, describe her as a nonideological problem-solver - with a wicked sense of humor and a serious golf habit. They praise her work ethic and her ability to bring together people of differing...

Bonnie Newman announced as the replacement for Senator Gregg.

President ObamaÂ’s new candidate to run the Commerce Department voted in favor of abolishing the agency as a member of the Budget Committee and on the Senate floor in 1995. Sen. Judd Gregg , R-N.H., whose nomination was expected to be announced Tuesday, also worked in the Senate to trim the departmentÂ’s budget as head of the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee. GreggÂ’s 1995 votes were cast for the fiscal 1996 budget resolution, a nonbinding blueprint that outlined the GOPÂ’s fiscal priorities after Republicans won full control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. The Senate version of the controversial...

Judas Gregg and Team Obama: A perfect fit By Michelle Malkin • February 2, 2009 08:00 PM Well, it looks increasingly likely that GOP Sen. Judd Gregg will be named the new Commerce Secretary nominee following the Bill Richardson fiasco. (Update: Gregg accepts.) Gregg championed the Crap Sandwich and regurgitated every Chicken Little talking point and fiscal myth to sell it: Gregg then crusaded to release the second half of the Crap Sandwich despite the Treasury Department’s obstinate lack of disclosure and miserable bungling of its ever-evolving objective. And he calls himself a “fiscal conservative?” What we have here is...

Senator John Kyl (R- AZ) proves he is smoking dope by lauding the potential choice of Republican Senator Judd Gregg for Commerce Secretary. On Fox news Sunday, Kyl drooled, "It shows a great deal of perspicacity on the part of President Obama to select a guy like Judd Gregg, who is just a phenomenal senator, very bright." Regardless of Greggs checkbook street-cred, his departure from the Senate would take the rolls one step closer to a filibuster-proof majority for the Dems. Senior Republicans, however, believe there is no danger of Obama taking advantage of that opportunity. If Gregg leaves, the...

All eyes in the Senate were on Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire Thursday amid speculation that President Obama is seriously considering him as his Commerce secretary. For his part, Gregg refused to comment on reports that he is a finalist. Obama had earlier tapped Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for the position, but he withdrew in December amid a federal corruption probe. "I really don't have any comment on that at all," Gregg said. Later he added, "I can't comment at all on this." If Obama were to nominate Gregg, it could have significant implications for the Senate....

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is considering nominating Republican Sen. Judd Gregg as his commerce secretary, officials in Washington and New Hampshire said Thursday night. Senior Democrats say the New Hampshire senator is among the top of a list of those considered for Obama's Cabinet, 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. Gregg was the GOP's chief negotiator for the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. That alone would deliver him a tough re-election bid...

I think this says it all Thank you, Mark Gregg, wherever and whoever you are. Dear Mr. Obama, It is October 2, 2008. My name is Mark Gregg. I am a 50 something conservative white male. I have followed your campaign closely, including the speeches you and others made at the democratic national convention. I am respectfully providing you with seven simple (probably shallow) reasons why I could never vote for you. I believe my opinion is shared by many people. While there may not be quite enough to prevent you from becoming president of this nation, I do think...

Senate Republicans are resisting calls to shut down the government if Democrats try to keep a longstanding offshore drilling ban intact. Despite the party’s election-year rallying cry that expanding offshore drilling would lower high gas prices and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, several GOP senators said holding up a must-pass continuing resolution (CR), which may include an extension of the drilling ban, is not yet in the calculus. “Obviously, there will be an interest for getting a vote on drilling in the CR, but it’s not going to lead to any dramatic event,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), an...