Sen. JUDD GREGG, R-N.H: Appointment wouldn't affect Senate makeup

www.lasvegassun.com and www.newsobserver.com ^ | Sun, Feb 1, 2009 (9:45 a.m.) | Philp Elliott

[Yosemitest]

Senator: Appointment Wouldn't Affect Senate Makeup
By PHILIP ELLIOTT - Associated Press Writer

Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has told colleagues that if he becomes commerce secretary, his replacement would affiliate with the GOP, denying Democrats' total dominance, his party leader said Sunday.

That would require an agreement involving President Obama, who would appoint Gregg to his Cabinet, and New Hampshire Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who would name Gregg's successor to the Senate. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky suggested that such an arrangement was in the works.

"Sen. Gregg has assured me that if this were to happen, if it were to happen, it would not change the makeup of the Senate,"
McConnell said on "Face the Nation" on CBS.
"In other words, whoever is appointed to replace him would caucus with Senate Republicans, so I think it would have no impact on the balance of power in the Senate."

Lynch's spokesman, Colin Manning, declined to comment on any agreement, saying only that

"this situation is still between the White House and Sen. Gregg."

Replacing Gregg with someone other than a Democrat willing to side with the party would deny Democrats the legislative dominance they seek in the Senate. Sixty votes are required to end debate in the 100-member chamber, but Democrats have just 56 seats, plus two independents who caucus with them.

In spite of being in the minority, Republicans can bottle up legislation through a filibuster as long as they retain at least 41 votes. The outcome of Minnesota's disputed Senate contest would decide the matter.

Officials say Obama is set to make Gregg his third Republican Cabinet official as early as Monday.

Many officials in New Hampshire and Washington now think a scenario is almost certain in which Lynch names a Republican or an independent as Gregg's successor. Democratic leaders have warned supporters in private that Gregg's departure would not automatically mean a Democratic replacement.

McConnell's second-in-command praised Obama's consideration of Gregg despite its potential political implications.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., cautioned that it's not a certainty that Lynch would appoint a fellow Democrat to replace Gregg. He also said he doubted that Republicans would lose the ability to filibuster if Gregg left, but he was less direct in discussing any potential deal among the White House, Gregg and Lynch.

"I'm not suggesting a deal at all,"
Kyl said.
"I'm just suggesting that Sen. Gregg clearly has thought this through. And if it does turn out that he's the commerce secretary, that events may unfold in a way that don't cause us the problem that you suggested,"
he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Asked if Republicans might pressure Gregg to stay, Kyl said:

"I'm not sure that we would. ... I suspect that Sen. Gregg has thought that through very carefully and would not leave his Republican colleagues in a lurch."

He added that Gregg

"could make a significant contribution to the Obama administration."

Lynch, a political moderate who named Republican Kelly Ayotte as his attorney general, enjoys broad popularity and won re-election with 70 percent of the vote. Picking a Republican could help him build on his governing coalition.

Lynch is leaning toward naming a "placeholder" senator in the seat, someone who would not seek the job in two years. Former Reagan and George H.W. Bush administration official Bonnie Newman is leading the pack of potential replacements. She was a former top aide to Gregg, a Harvard dean and one of Lynch's first Republican supporters.

Others being discussed include former Republican state House Speaker Doug Scamman, a Lynch ally, and Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes, who was eyeing a Senate run in 2010 against Gregg.

Obama's Cabinet already has two Republicans:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush and then asked by Obama to remain;
and former Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois, who did not seek re-election to the House in 2008 and soon after was named transportation secretary.

If Gregg were nominated, he would be Obama's second choice. A grand jury investigation over how state contracts were issued to political donors led New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to withdraw from consideration.

---

Additional information from www.newsobserver.com at Sun, Feb. 01, 2009 11:16PM.
President Barack Obama is expected to pick a Republican senator, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, as his commerce secretary soon. But officials expect the state's Democratic governor, John Lynch, to fill Gregg's Senate seat with another Republican.

.....If a Republican is appointed, the Democrats will be no closer to their goal of holding 60 Senate seats, enough to cut off Republican filibusters if all Democrats vote together. They now have 56 votes. Two independents usually vote with the Democrats, giving them 58 votes. The outcome in a still-disputed Senate election in Minnesota could bring that to 59 votes.

The Republican expected to get the seat until a new election is held in two years is Bonnie Newman, who served as Gregg's chief of staff when Gregg was in the House. She is a veteran of the Reagan White House. Under the deal that has been worked out, she will not run in the 2010 election.

The move would allow Gregg to join the Cabinet without giving Democrats' unchecked power in Congress. It also would spare him a difficult re-election bid.

An administration official said Sunday evening that the White House would worry about the Cabinet pick, not the politics.

"The president will choose the best person for the job, and if it's Sen. Gregg, then Gov. Lynch will have the sole responsibility for choosing his replacement,"
the official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Gregg has told colleagues that if he becomes the third Republican in Obama's Cabinet - a decision that could come as early as Monday - his replacement would affiliate with the GOP, denying Democrats' total dominance, his party leader said Sunday.

.... Gregg spokeswoman Laena Fallon had no comment on McConnell's statement.

Newman's name has climbed to the top of Lynch's short list of names, officials said. She served in the administrations of both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She was Gregg's top aide when he was in the U.S. House, served as a Harvard dean and was one of Lynch's first Republican supporters.

Others being discussed include former Republican state House Speaker Doug Scamman, another Lynch ally.

Many officials in New Hampshire and Washington expect Lynch to name a Republican or an independent as Gregg's successor. Democratic leaders have warned supporters in private that Gregg's departure would not automatically mean a Democratic replacement.

[Yosemitest]

Hired To Be Fired

Somebody PLEASE TELL ME that Sen. Judd Gregg, Republican of N.H. ISN"T THAT STUPID!!!

Will he actually TRUST A DEMOCRAAT TO HONOR THEIR WORD?
Surely not?

People of New Hampshire, do you actually trust Governor John Lynch to keep his word?

Just how bad can it get?

[DoughtyOne]

Years ago California Republicans actually won the majority in the legislature. Willy Brown, Speaker of that body played political games, and even got a Republican to help him hold control of the Legislature for a good portion of the term the Republicans had won.

Here we have a Republican of the same mold. It really doesn’t matter to this person, no matter what he says. It’s more important to him to get that Commerce Secretary appointment. I’m not sure why, but it is.

If the governor wants to play games, who cares. “He promised me, and that’s all I care about.” That’s the story and this guy is sticking to it.

Does anyone other than a few Conservatives actually give a damn about this nation any longer. There are times when I truly wonder.

[Lancey Howard]

McConnell said on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "In other words, whoever is appointed to replace him would caucus with Senate Republicans, so I think it would have no impact on the balance of power in the Senate."

Huh? What about votes? Would this alleged puppet VOTE with the Republicans? Suppose the Republicans were split 50/50 on a particular vote - - then how would this alleged puppet vote?

I think my head is going to explode.

[Yosemitest]

Of course we care, because we don't want to go to the cartridge box .... yet.

NEVER TRUST A DEMOCRAT!

[Lancey Howard]

Does anyone other than a few Conservatives actually give a damn about this nation any longer. There are times when I truly wonder.

Wonder no more... the Founders' grand experiment is over. It was quite a run!

Sadly, America is dead and gone. What's left is a land mass populated by cretins and parasites who have absolutely no respect for the military and who vote for big government to confiscate money from their neighbors so it can be "redistributed" to them, the cretins and parasites. It is not an America worth defending anymore.

It's now every man for himself.
Good luck!

[DoughtyOne]

I hear ya.

[Rick_Michael]

You know...if this doesn’t happen the way he expects it, he’ll be receiving a lot of ‘punches in the face’ through the mail.

[DoughtyOne]

I hear ya. Pretty pathetic alright.

[Yosemitest]

Like I said...

He'll be HIRED TO BE FIRED!!!

[Post Toasties]

Yeah. It sounds like Bull Excrement to me, too. Democrats: “You F***ed up. You trusted us. Just like the last time”

[KC_Conspirator]

Gregg is a total idiot if he thinks for one moment that democrats will honor their word.

[OrangeHoof]

I wonder if you can get odds in the U.K. on how fast the Dems will pull the rug out from under the Republicans again? Like Lucy Van Pelt with a football, Democrats will say anything for the joy of putting one over on them.

And what if the governor breaks his word and appoints a Democrat? It’ll be a one-day story at best (with cheering, not outrage, from the media) and then the GOP is stuck without their 41st vote. The reaction by the GOP will be tepid at best for being double-crossed again. The “Stupid Party” will have nobody to blame but themselves.

[Warrior Nurse]

This is a joke right trusting the Dems remember jumpin’ Jim Jeffords of Vermont? What the hell does the Commerce Secretary do anyway? When you lie with Democrat dogs you get rabies as well as fleas. DON'T DO IT Sen Gregg or you will be another Northeaster RINO that will bite the dust.

[Yosemitest]

There was a woman, I believe in the Senate from the northeast, that gave her seat up to become a news-person on one of the networks. I just can't remember her name. She didn't stay with the network very long, either.

[Rastus]

[GVnana]

OK. Somebody give me the shorthand version. Other than eliminating a Republican from the senate, why does Obama want Gregg?

[Yosemitest]

He needs a Republican to blame for the Obama failures in the Commerce Department.

Then he fires Gregg, and does away with him and Bonnie Newman.
Under the deal that has been worked out, she will not run in the 2010 election.

Reagan Resistance
Join the Resistance!
We have four years
to survive this Obamanation,
identify with others
of like mind.

[Diogenesis]

So The replacement will "affiliate" with the RNC. Like Gregg?

[Yosemitest]

I forgot the most important reason
Mister Obama want Gregg out of the Senate.

To cut off Republican filibusters
if all Democrats vote together.

[Yosemitest]

That photo is quite revealing.... with Gregg between those evil leaders of the left.