By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Feb. 17, 2009 – No word on the short list of candidates for commerce secretary but  Black lawmakers are once again pitching technology executive John W. Thompson’s name for the short list. 

You may recall in January, members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to the president requesting Thomas be given consideration for the job.  “We commend you for making diversity an important priority as you consider your Cabinet selections, in terms of race, perspectives, party and geography given past progress by other presidents in naming African-Americans to senior Cabinet posts,” the letter stated.

Thompson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the technology firm Symantec Corporation, is keeping mum about his interest.  But if he were to be nominated he would follow New Mexico’s Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson who bowed out in early January, and Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire who surprised everyone by withdrawing his name last week.

With the apparent difficulty to fill the position some inside the beltway are asking: Is the department dispensable?    Derek Shearer, a former deputy undersecretary at Commerce from the Clinton years says President Obama may want to consider “abolishing” the department and redistributing some of its responsibilities with the creation of new agencies.

Shearer is suggesting the following: spinning the “largely autonomous” Census Bureau into an independent agency; making the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with the National Institute of Standards and Technology separate agencies; and combining the remaining agencies into a new Department of Industry and Trade.  Shearer believes the new agency with emphasis on industry and trade would be a far more attractive job and increase the pool of interested candidates.

I doubt the Obama administration has dumping the Commerce Department on the radar, but it’s not far-fetched.  Vice President Joe Biden, while in the senate voted for a similar scenario for the department in the 1990s.   

I’m sure the folks pulling for Thompson would agree he’s qualified for the job regardless of how the cabinet-level post shapes up.