Judd Gregg withdraws from Commerce Post
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/12/gregg.nomination/index.html
“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 process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy. Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives.”
Although Gregg mainly points to the stimulus package, the real bone of contention was the Census. The Census must be done every 10 years by Constitutional rule. African-American and Latino leaders were concerned that the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department, might lack sufficient resources under Gregg’s leadership to accurately count ethnic minorities.
Efforts by the White House to reassure minority advocacy groups have generated claims of partisanship from Republicans. After the Obama administration said Thursday that the director of the Census Bureau would “work closely with White House senior management,” California Rep. Darrell Issa and North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, two Republican members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote the President a letter.
“Requiring the Census Director to report directly to the White House and circumventing the Secretary of Commerce is both outrageous and unprecedented,” the two Republicans wrote. Issa and McHenry also described Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as a “hyper-partisan” who might “politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census” on the administration’s behalf. In a statement that also appeared to be targeted at Emanuel, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said Friday that the decennial census “should not be directed by political operatives working out of the White House.” Republicans have threatened to take the issue to court if need be.
The blow back has already started. White House leakers are blaming Gregg for the mess. A Democratic source close to the Obama White House said Thursday that Judd Gregg “campaigned for the job” — that the New Hampshire senator had asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to approach the president about the Commerce post. Gregg “sat with [Obama], said he wanted the job, knew his policies and erratically dropped out without warning,” said the source, minutes after the Republican senator announced his withdrawal from consideration. Yes. Really classy, considering Sen. Gregg only had good things to say about the President. Even Obama took an ungracious swipe at Gregg…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4cfK3FLrHo&eurl=http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/13/wapo-obama-administration-peeved-and-churlish-over-gregg/
The only good thing about this for President Obama? At least Gregg didn’t have any tax problems…
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