Obama also names former UNM prez to head White House Military Office
Barack Obama will officially nominate Gov. Bill Richardson to be his commerce secretary on Wednesday, several media outlets are reporting.
Obama’s selection of Richardson to head the Commerce Department has been known for a couple of weeks, and New Mexico has already begun transitioning to life after Richardson. But Wednesday’s formal announcement, expected to take place at a news conference in Chicago, will accelerate the transition and allow Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who will become governor, to begin to openly prepare for a coming legislative session in which hundreds of millions of dollars must be cut from the state budget.
The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press are among the media organizations reporting on Wednesday’s planned news conference. A spokesman for Richardson said he had no comment, and a spokeswoman for Denish did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Obama will be sworn in the day that the state’s legislative session begins, and there’s a strong possibility that Richardson won’t resign until after he’s confirmed by the U.S. Senate, so the transition in New Mexico to the Denish administration could take place in the middle of the 60-day legislative session.
Meanwhile, Obama made one other announcement today that’s noteworthy in New Mexico. He named former University of New Mexico President Louis Caldera to head the White House Military Office, according to a news release.
“Louis has served his country with distinction in uniform and in government, and his pedigree is second-to-none. I know he’ll bring to the White House the same dedication and integrity that have earned him the highest praise in every post, from secretary of the Army to university president,” Obama said in the release.
Caldera was president of UNM from 2003 to 2006, then became a tenured law professor there. Last year, he toyed with the idea of running for the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District seat but ultimately decided against getting into the race.