The Daily Background
| Third time’s the charm for Commerce Secretary?
Filed at 9:07 am, Friday February 13th 2009
by Arlen Parsa
by Arlen Parsa
With both Judd Gregg and Bill Richardson having withdrawn their nominations, whoever will be tapped next for the job of Obama’s Commerce Secretary will probably give the matter some pause. This is especially ironic because the job these days is considered largely a ceremonial post with little real power over policy.
This situation is not unprecedented however. In 1993, the freshly-elected President Clinton went through two much more embarrassing unsuccessful attempts at nominating an Attorney General– a much more important job– before finally settling on Janet Reno who was confirmed 98-0 and served longer than all but one of her predecessors.
Very true re: the Clinton cabinet issues. I think, however, the biggest issue (for all sides) with Commerce this time around is the census. Reports that Gregg said he felt Obama to be “too liberal” are, I believe, just red meat thrown at the Republican base to give him some juice during a reelection campaign. In the end, Gregg wanted control over congressional district apportioning. Obama wouldn’t let him have that.