Another Obama cabinet pick quits

Judd Gregg was Mr Obama's second nominee for commerce secretary

Republican US Senator Judd Gregg is withdrawing as President Barack Obama's nominee for commerce secretary.

Mr Gregg decided to withdraw because of policy differences with the Obama administration, he said in a statement.

His nomination was announced last week and he was expected to become the second Republican in the Obama cabinet.

Mr Obama had originally picked New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for the commerce post, but he withdrew over an investigation into campaign donations.

Mr Gregg said in a statement that he had found there were "irresolvable conflicts" on issues including President Obama's economic stimulus package.

"Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns," the statement said.

"We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy."