WASHINGTON – Continuing on his pledge to have a bipartisan administration, President Obama today named Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) to be secretary of commerce.
Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, would be the third Republican in the Cabinet if he is confirmed by the Senate. The other two are Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Gregg's departure from the Senate won't change the partisan balance there as New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has said he will appoint a Republican to succeed Gregg, which was one of Gregg's preconditions for taking the post.
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The lawmaker from the Granite State is a fiscal conservative who was critical of Obama during the campaign .but said at the news conference when his appointment was announced that "this is not a time for partisanship, this is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other. This is a time to govern and govern well."
Gregg's appointment would have completed the Obama Cabinet if Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle hadn't withdrawn today following the uproar over his failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes for having received the services of a car and driver from a prominent Democratic donor.
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