Obama to Name Republican N.Y. Congressman (McHugh) the Army Secretary

[jefferson_dem]

Obama to Name N.Y. Congressman the Army Secretary
By Carl Hulse

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Representative John M. McHugh.Representative John M. McHugh, a Republican congressman from New York, will be nominated by President Obama to be secretary of the Army, according to officials, as the administration continues to reach into the ranks of the opposition for executive appointments.

Mr. Obama formally offered the Pentagon position to the lawmaker on Monday afternoon, and his nomination is expected to be announced later on Tuesday, officials said. Mr. McHugh would join former House Republican colleague Ray LaHood of Illinois, the secretary of transportation, in the Obama administration.

The nine-term House member, who represents a sprawling northern New York district that includes the Fort Drum Army base, is the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee and has a solid reputation with members of both parties for his knowledge of military affairs. He also serves on the Board of Visitors for the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The nomination would give Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, a Republican voice at the Pentagon. Mr. McHugh’s resignation would spur a second special House election in New York, where Democrats managed to hold on to a Republican-leaning seat earlier this spring after Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate.

Democrats say they would have a chance at winning the seat though it would still favor a Republican candidate. If Democrats were able to flip the representation, it would leave only two Republicans in the state’s 29-member House delegation with redistricting looming after the 2010 Census.

Besides Mr. LaHood and Mr. Gates, Mr. Obama has also nominated Utah Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, a Republican, to serve as his ambassador to China. The White House is also considering Republicans for other executive branch appointments, an outreach plan that aides say demonstrates that Mr. Obama is serious about working with Republicans despite resistance from the party’s leadership on Capitol Hill.

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http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/obama-to-name-ny-congressman-the-army-secretary/?hp

[Uzybone]

1. Hope we win the special election

leaving only 2 GOP out of the 29 House reps for New York.

Slowly but surely, the GOP will be completely irrelevant everywhere but the deep south.

[whistler162]

7. Here is hoping Will Barclay some how gets the nomination.....

and the Democrats of the district run Aubertine or Valesky.

[wyldwolf]

2. Excellent move

[Occam Bandage]

3. The 23rd is only R+1. We should win it in a walk. nt

[Perky]

4. WHen He get done with with NY, He can move on to NJ and PA and lock up the entire NE

[jefferson_dem]

5. WONKETTE: Obama Forces Uppity Republican To Run The Army

Obama Forces Uppity Republican To Run The Army

New York Republican Rep. John McHugh, ranking GOP member of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote this thing for The Hill yesterday that very politely and professionally urged his fellow Republicans to hit Barack Obama hard over Iran, North Korea, the Defense budget, and various other foreign policy issues that the President is a chit-chatty pussy about. Barack Obama didn’t much care for these “tips,” so he kidnapped McHugh from his home last night and ordered him to become his new Secretary of the Army. And now play time’s over for John McHugh, for there will be no more of his fanciful “Help the Republican party!” schoolyard dalliances in The Hill, ever again.

http://wonkette.com/

[WI_DEM]

6. LaHood has surprised me--he has been a strong advocate for mass transit

[Cha]

8. Here's an article on the local politics of

it, too..

“This seat is one of the best opportunities for Democrats to pursue now that McHugh out of the way,” said Reynolds, who is also a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Already we’re watching the Democrats downplay their chances but make no mistake, you can bet they’ll be as forceful as this as they were in NY 20 .”


Logistically, McHugh is leaving the Armed Services Committee at a disastrous time. The defense authorization bill was already delayed given it’s the first year in a new administration. McHugh’s departure comes one week before the defense authorization bill was scheduled to begin a markup."
Read more: "GOP Rep. John McHugh tapped as Secretary of the Army - Jonathan Martin - POLITICO.com" - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23225.html#ixzz0HJ123ZkP&A


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23225.html

[Cha]

9. And, here's another one on McHugh "favoring DADT change"..

pinto (1000+ posts)
"Gibbs: Army Secretary Nominee Favors DADT Change"
By Kerry Eleveld / The Advocate

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid87814.asp

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of the Army, Republican representative John McHugh, agrees with the president that "don't ask, don't tell" should be changed.

<snip>

Full text of the exchange is below:

The Advocate: On the nomination of Representative McHugh, last year, during the "don't ask, don't tell" hearings, he expressed a deep desire to move forward with a review of the policy and he said, "I would hope and encourage both the Department of Defense and the various services to reconsider the reluctance they have displayed to this point." Was a review of the policy something that the president took into consideration with this nomination and will Congressman McHugh be encouraged to move forward with talks inside the department?"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x135626