Obama names GOP senator to Cabinet

WASHINGTON -- In the midst of promoting his $800 billion-plus economic proposal, President Obama chose for his new commerce secretary a Republican senator with such a reputation for fiscal discipline that he once voted to shut down the department.

If confirmed by the Senate, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire will take over an agency charged with everything from creating jobs and regulating trademarks to conducting the 2010 census and issuing weather forecasts.

Obama, however, indicated that Gregg's top priority will be his involvement in an administration team tasked with pulling the country out of recession.

"Clearly, Judd and I don't agree on every issue," Obama said in the White House's Grand Foyer alongside Gregg and Vice President Joe Biden. "But we agree on the urgent need to get American businesses and families back on their feet ... And we know the only way to solve the great challenges of our time is to put aside stale ideology and petty partisanship, and embrace what works."

"This is not a time for partisanship," Gregg said. "This is a time to govern and govern well."

Commerce Secretary-designate, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., speaks in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

He praised Obama's economic proposal as an "extraordinarily bold, aggressive, effective and comprehensive plan."

But just last week Gregg was critical of the administration's plan.

"A stimulus package should be temporary, targeted and timely," he said then. "What we're getting here is something that's unfocused and unending."

Obama is seeking congressional approval of his plan that melds billions of dollars of new spending and tax cuts to spur the economy. He's hoping for bipartisan support but is trying to keep in line majority Democrats who want pet projects funded and to satisfy minority Republicans concerned about ballooning spending.

Facing resistance, he's stepped up his lobbying campaign for the measure.

In choosing Gregg, a GOP spending hawk, to lead Commerce, Obama seems to be extending an olive branch to Republicans while also trying to protect himself from being tagged a big-spender.

The president initially had chosen Bill Richardson for the Commerce job, but the New Mexico governor withdrew his nomination amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

Gregg would be the third Republican in Obama's Cabinet, joining Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The secretary-designate told reporters that while he will remain in the Senate until he is confirmed, he would not participate in Senate business or votes while his confirmation is pending. That means he won't vote on the stimulus plan or help Republicans in their arguments against it.

Gregg, 61, is a former New Hampshire governor who previously served in the House. He has been in the Senate since 1993 and currently serves as the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, where he is known as a crusader against big spending.

In 1995, he voted in favor of a broader budget measure that would have abolished the Commerce Department.

In a conference call with reporters, Gregg dismissed questions about the vote.

"I say those were my wild and crazy days," he said. "My record on supporting Commerce far exceeds any one vote that was cast early on in the context of an overall budget."

Gregg said he's strongly supported the agency, particularly its scientific initiatives, including at the agency's largest department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Democratic Gov. John Lynch on Tuesday named Republican Bonnie Newman to fill Gregg's Senate seat. Newman, Gregg's former chief of staff, said she intends to step down rather than run in 2010 for a full term. That would create the possibility of a highly competitive race for a seat that long has been in Republican hands.

Choosing a Democrat would have expanded the party's majority in the Senate, moving it closer to a filibusterproof majority. Gregg had indicated he wouldn't leave the Senate if his departure disrupted the balance of power.

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Associated Press Writers Sam Hananel, Andrew Taylor and David Espo contributed to this report.