Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who had agreed to take the position of Commerce Secretary in the Obama Administration, yesterday changed his mind and withdrew from consideration. Gregg cited policy differences with the President that would have inhibited his ability to do the job as Commerce Secretary. From the Washington Post:

“The bottom line is, this was just a bridge too far for me. The president asked me to do it; I said yes. That was my mistake, not his. But it was my mistake to say yes, because it wasn’t my personality after 30 years of being myself,” Gregg said yesterday at a hastily arranged news conference explaining his decision.

There has been some reference to the fact that the White House was prepared to take management of the census away from this portfolio, but Gregg dismissed talk of that as a factor in his decision, calling it a “minor” issue. So we will have Judd Gregg now likely coming back to active Senate duty and voting against the stimulus bill. The Post indicates that Gregg will likely not run for re-election in 2010. The Statement from the White House is below:

“Senator Gregg reached out to the president and offered his name for secretary of commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the president’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart.”