Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) “continues to be bombarded by senior Republicans eager for him to reverse his decision not to run for re-election in 2010,” Congressional Quarterly reports.
“It’s coming from different people, including some in the leadership. They’ve got nothing else to say. It’s like saying, ‘Good morning.’ They don’t want me to retire,” Gregg said.
Senate Republicans are hunting for ways to increase their 40-member caucus, especially now that Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has switched to the Democratic Party.
For his part, Gregg said he has not been swayed but will continue to listen to the entreaties. “I’m settled in. I’m comfortable with where I am,” he said.
His decision, should he choose to stay in the Senate and win another term, would impact the deal recently reached that gave Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) the top Judiciary Committee spot for the rest of this Congress.
The Grassley-Sessions deal cleared the way for Sessions to succeed Specter as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee and allowed Grassley to stay in place as the ranking member on Finance for this Congress.
But in the next Congress, the handshake agreement would allow Grassley to use his bumping rights under GOP caucus rules to become the top Republican on Judiciary, a move that would leave Sessions to succeed Gregg as the top Republican on Budget.
Sessions is well aware that the efforts to persuade Gregg to run for re-election could upset that plan. Whatever the outcome, Sessions said he will keep his promise to Grassley not to contest his push to become the top Republican on Judiciary. “He’s more senior,” Sessions said of Grassley.
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