The word is out that Judge Gregg has accepted President Obama’s offer to serve as Commerce secretary. There are really few ways that this appointment makes sense. But how this plays out could indicate how the Obama administration- and the Democratic Party in general- are going to approach business this year. 

Obama has been touting bipartisanship left, right and center and this appointment would play into that. But how far will Obama go to achieve this?  The stimulus plan was edited and bent around the will of the House Republicans, who never had any intention of voting for it. Gov. Lynch has promised to replace Gregg with a Republican so a filibuster proof (in theory) 60 for the Democrats isn’t an incentive to promote him. Though it seems unlikely, Lynch could select a Republican that is as far right as Gregg (or further)- making the Senate climate more difficult. 

But if Lynch replaces Gregg with someone like Liz Hager, the plan makes a lot more sense from a Democratic perspective. Hager- a former state representative- has said she is interested in the position. Hagar is a moderate Republican that endorsed Obama during the presidential race. She is also pro-choice and against the conservative wing of her party. She would, of course, caucus with the Republicans but it is likely she’d support much of the Democratic agenda. Nate Silver has more on Hager and the chances of her being selected. Another rumored Gregg replacement is J. Bonnie Newman, a friend of Governor Lynch who is, it seems, at least more moderate than Gregg. There is also speculation that taking incumbent Gregg out of that seat opens the race up for a Democrat to take in the next election since it is unlikely that the interm senator would win. But that seems a risky gamble for what might not be a worthy payoff. 

Placing the Senate seat shenanigans aside, the Gregg selection itself doesn’t make much sense from the outside. It requires some benefit of the doubt to assume that Obama has a reason he wants a senator that is strongly opposed to the stimulus plan to be in charge of a section of the economy. As Chris Bowers says “That is certainly an, um, interesting way to for the Obama administration to incentivize Republican opposition. Oppose President Obama, and he will reward you by giving you a cabinet position.”

Bowers also links to an article discussing a proposed plan for a secretive economic panel that is backed by Gregg and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.): 

At the moment, discussions are focused on whether to name a special panel to make the difficult decisions that would be required to right the nation’s finances. Key senators in both parties are backing a plan put forward by Conrad and the Budget Committee’s senior Republican, Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), that would create a task force of lawmakers and administration officials. The task force would wrestle with the details of Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and the tax code, and deliver a reform plan to Congress for a vote later this year.

Under the proposal, the task force’s recommendations could not be amended; the House and Senate would be required to accept or reject them without changes or additions, similar to the process lawmakers use to close military bases.

They want to be able to alter (read: cut back) Social Security, Medicare and Medicare while leaving the House and Senate unable to amend what is put forth. Obama (the guy hiring Gregg) opposes this panel, as does Nancy Pelosi, so it might not have a future in the realm of reality. 

It will be interesting to see this situation play out. If there is some great scheme behind it that many outside of the administration are failing to see, then it will be great when it is revealed to be falling into place. But if this is just a waved flag towards bipartisanship, something troubling this way comes. 

Why Gregg would even want to be tucked in the side of the Cabinet that no one really cares about is another question (and post) entirely.