I’m not a big fan of making Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) the next Secretary of Commerce. But it’s tiresome to hear blogger after blogger after blogger criticize the decision because Gregg is recusing himself from voting on the stimulus. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Ken Salazar, and Hilda Solis all stopped voting on most issues once they had been nominated to Obama’s cabinet. In fact, I was surprised to see that Solis voted for SCHIP today, but that may be more of a reflection of the GOP’s stalling her confirmation than anything else. It would be unseemly if Gregg appeared to be voting with the administration as some kind of quid pro quo.
What will the Obama administration get out of the Gregg nomination? They’ll have an easier time taking over his senate seat. They make it more difficult and less plausible to paint his administration as some kind of radical leftist departure from precedent. They get Jeff Sessions as ranking member of the Budget Committee. (Republicans are confused about that one because Sessions is so conservative. He’s also a hapless buffoon whose opinion is irrelevant and whose mastery of procedure is non-existent). They take one of the view talents in the GOP caucus and make him their own. They continue the process of absorbing Yankee Republicanism into the Big Tent.
Is all that enough? Not in my opinion. The only way the Gregg pick really pays off is if his replacement refuses to join Republican filibusters. And that remains to be seen.
