Obama faces a Cabinet setback, again

UPDATED:

Sen. Judd Gregg abruptly withdrew his Cabinet nomination Thursday just nine days after being named commerce secretary, citing irreconcilable differences with President Obama that had left him silently erecting roadblocks to the administration’s own economic recovery package.

The New Hampshire Republican’s unexpected decision dealt a sharp blow to Mr. Obama’s efforts to create a bipartisan administration and was the latest drama in a young presidency that has suffered three other high-profile nominee withdrawals, questions about its vetting process and a flubbed banking plan that sent Wall Street reeling.

The White House defended the administration’s record but acknowledged that the latest setback might lead some to question the administration’s early competence.

“Some may call it amateur hour. Having been in two separate White Houses, I’d more than - and within our third week given this set of accomplishments - measure them up,” said Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who cut his political teeth more than a decade ago in the Clinton administration, which also suffered some early bumps.

Democratic officials gave conflicting details Thursday on the Gregg nomination and his withdrawal.

Mr. Obama and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said it was Mr. Gregg who asked the administration for the job in the first place. But Mr. Emanuel and a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, gave a different account, saying it was Mr. Reid who suggested Mr. Gregg for the job.

RELATED STORY:Gregg withdrawal foreshadows census debate.

Mr. Gregg said he did not expect to disagree so quickly with his new boss on policy and thought that withdrawing was the right thing to do. He disputed that he ever lobbied for the job. “I did not ask anybody to call for me to get me this job,” he said.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley confirmed to The Washington Times that Mr. Emanuel asked for suggestions for the commerce post and that Mr. Reid suggested Mr. Gregg.

There also was confusion about the timing of when the president learned of the senator’s decision.

Mr. Gibbs disputed senior Obama adviser David Axelrod’s statement that the president learned of the withdrawal Thursday. The press secretary said Mr. Gregg told the president of his intent to withdraw during a meeting Wednesday. Mr. Obama himself said a short bit later that he had indeed found out Thursday at the last minute.

Mr. Gregg took the blame for the drama, saying he realized too late that he and Mr. Obama disagreed too much on policy.

“This is simply a bridge too far for me. The president asked me to do it. I said yes. That was my mistake, not his,” Mr. Gregg said.

He said it became clear that he would clash with Mr. Obama after the White House tried to alter oversight of the Census Bureau’s 2010 count, and as the president pressed Congress to pass his $789 billion economic stimulus bill.

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