GOP's Judd Gregg Withdraws Commerce Secretary Nomination

Posted by Staff, AlterNet at 1:33 PM on February 12, 2009.

Rachel Weiner of the Huffington Post has New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg's full statement concerning his withdrawal of his nomination to serve as commerce secretary:

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.

I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.

As we move forward, I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the president's proposals. This will certainly be a goal of mine.

Kathy and I also want to specifically thank Gov. Lynch and Bonnie Newman for their friendship and assistance during this period. In addition, we wish to thank all the people, especially in New Hampshire, who have been so kind and generous in their supportive comments.

As a further matter of clarification, nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision. I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate.

Tagged as: withdrawal, nomination, judd gregg