On May 27, 2011, Goldman Sachs announced that Gregg had been named an international advisor to the firm.[8] In May 2013, Gregg was named the CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a Wall Street lobbying group.[9] He later stepped down as CEO in December 2013 and became a senior adviser.
He declined to run for re-election in 1988, and ran for Governor of New Hampshire instead. He won that election and was re-elected in 1990, New Hampshire being one of two states (Vermont is the other) that continues to elect its governors to two-year, rather than four-year, terms. As Governor, he balanced the budget, leaving the office in 1993 with a $21 million surplus.[14][15] However, his political opponents in the 1990s attacked Judd for the state's weak economy and his Vietnam War deferments.[16]
U.S. Senate tenure
Elections
In 1992, Gregg decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by two-term Republican Warren Rudman. He defeated Democrat John Rauh, and took his seat as a United States Senator in 1993. He was re-elected to a second term in 1998 after defeating George Condodemetraky. He ran for a third term in 2004 and defeated campaign finance activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock, the then 94-year-old Democratic nominee, by 66% to 34%.
I regret that due to the impending Senate schedule involving the potential of dealing with an extremely large stimulus package, coupled with the ongoing issues of developing fiscal policy relative to the budget and the continuing economic downturn and my responsibility for foreign operations appropriations, it has become difficult to continue service on the TARP oversight board. I have advised Senator McConnell I will need to step aside from this effort.[19][20]
Platform
Judd Gregg is a moderate Republican. He is fiscally conservative and socially moderate. The non-partisan National Journal gave then-Senator Gregg a composite ideology rating of 65% conservative and 35% liberal.[21]
Republicans for Environmental Protection issued Gregg an "environmental harm demerit" for sponsoring the 2006 S.C. Resolution 83, which according to REP "included only one revenue-raising instruction to Senate appropriations committees, an abuse of the congressional budget process in order to force oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge", and "would perpetuate America's dangerous oil dependence and damage the most scenic, wildlife-rich reserve in the circumpolar north."[22] Nonetheless, the same organization praised Gregg, together with John E. Sununu, for their work to pass the New England Wilderness act, which classified nearly 100,000 acres (400 km2) of New Hampshire and Vermont as wilderness.[23] In 2006, Gregg received a score of 43% from the nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters.[24]
In October 2009, Gregg said, "You talk about systemic risk. The systemic risk today is the Congress of the United States ... we're creating these massive debts which we're passing on to our children ... (the figures) mean we're basically on the path to a banana republic-type of financial situation in this country.[25] "
Gregg has a moderate record on social issues. In June 2006, he joined six of his fellow Republicans in voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment. In April 2007, he was among the breakaway Republicans to support the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. However, his record on the issue of abortion is otherwise a solidly anti-abortion one. Gregg has voted for some gun control measures and against others. He voted against the Brady Bill, but in recent years has voted for trigger control locks on firearms and in favor of the ban on assault weapons.
On December 17, 2009, Gregg voted to extend Chairman Ben Bernanke's term.[26]
On October 29, 2007, Gregg endorsed Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
Gregg has not foreclosed the possibility of running for President himself after he leaves the Senate but he has said it's "not likely":
In New Hampshire we like to have a variety of candidates, so I would seriously doubt that. I expect to be actively involved in the presidential primary. That's the fun on coming from New Hampshire and being in office," Gregg said.
"I don't rule out anything in my future. Let's face it -- that's not likely and I wouldn't expect to be doing that," he added.[27]
In the Senate, Gregg was the leading Republican negotiator and author of the TARP program, which bailed out financial institutions, while he had a multimillion-dollar investment in Bank of America.[30][31][32] After leaving the Senate Gregg became an advisor to the investment bank Goldman Sachs.[33]
In February 2009, the Associated Press reported that Gregg and his family had profited personally from federal earmarks secured by the senator for the redevelopment of the Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire into an industrial park.[34][35] According to Senate records, Gregg has collected from $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments in Pease Air Force Base, while helping to arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.[34][35] Gregg has denied any wrongdoing in the matter and claimed that his withdrawal from consideration for the Commerce Secretary was unrelated to the White House's discovery during the vetting process of his involvement in his family's real estate investments in Pease. Gregg explained away his actions by saying, "I've throughout my entire lifetime been involved in my family's businesses and that's just the way our family works. We support each other and our activities."[34][36]
Gregg as a member of President Barack Obama's deficit commission defended cutting Social Security by quoting Willie Sutton who, when asked why he robbed banks, replied, "because that's where the money is."[37]
Commerce Secretary nomination and withdrawal
Gregg accepting his nomination
On February 2, 2009, Politico and CNN reported that Gregg accepted President Obama's offer to be the next United States Secretary of Commerce.[38] If Gregg had been confirmed by the Senate, he would have had to resign his Senate seat and be replaced with an appointment by Democratic GovernorJohn Lynch. Sources from both parties confirmed that Gregg's former chief of staff, Republican Bonnie Newman, would have been chosen to replace him.[39]The Washington Post had alleged that Gregg would not accept the appointment unless Governor Lynch agreed to appoint a Republican to fill his seat until 2010.[40] In February 2009, many news outlets noted that Gregg had in 1995 voted to abolish the United States Department of Commerce.[41] Although Gregg stated that he supported the stimulus package promoted by President Obama, he clarified that he would recuse himself from voting on the package.[42]
With reports that the Obama Administration would move the United States Census Bureau, typically run by the Commerce Department, out of Gregg's jurisdiction, Republican leaders urged Obama to allow Gregg to run the census or withdraw Gregg's nomination.[43] On February 12, 2009, Gregg withdrew his name from consideration for the position of United States Commerce Secretary, citing disagreements with issues surrounding the census and the stimulus bill.[44]White House Press SecretaryRobert Gibbs issued a statement regarding Gregg's withdrawal in which he accused the senator of not following through on his alleged statements of support for Obama's economic agenda made during the vetting process:[45]
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.
While speaking to press afterward, Gregg acknowledged responsibility for his decision and accepted the blame for accepting and then rejecting the Commerce Secretary nomination.[17]
In an interview response to the AP, Gregg was quoted as saying,
For 30 years, I've been my own person in charge of my own views, and I guess I hadn't really focused on the job of working for somebody else and carrying their views, and so this is basically where it came out.[46]
In February 2009, the Associated Press reported that Gregg and his family had profited personally from federal earmarks secured by the Senator for the redevelopment of the Pease Air Force Base into an industrial park.[35] According to Senate records, Gregg has collected from $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments in Pease Air Force Base, while helping to arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.[35] Gregg claimed that his withdrawal from consideration for the Commerce Secretary was unrelated to the White House's discovery during the vetting process of his involvement in his family's real estate investments in Pease.
Personal life
Gregg belongs to the Congregationalist Church. He is married to Kathleen MacLellan Gregg.[47] They have two daughters, Molly and Sarah, and a son, Joshua.
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