Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg, a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post.
Citing the Obama administration’s proposal to take the Census (which determines House representation) out of the hands of the Commerce Department and give it to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, as well as the out-of-control costs of Barack Obama’s $1.1 trillion "stimulus plan" and $9.7 trillion total costs in proposed bailouts, increased spending and welfare transfers, Gregg informed the White House he was no longer interested in serving.
Gregg previously agreed to serve in the Obama administration and was awaiting Senate confirmation.
He is the latest in a string of Obama administration nominees to withdraw their names, though Gregg’s is the first not initiated by ethics or tax evasion problems. He is the second Commerce Secretary nominee to drop out.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination in January after being named in a federal grand jury investigation looking into a $1.5 million taxpayer-funded contracts being awarded to a company after it donated $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.
