President Barack Obama plans to dine with Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick and his wife on Friday evening, according to a White House pool report.
Patrick’s office said in a statement that “[a]fter breaking ground for the Fore River Bridge on the Quincy/Weymouth line this afternoon, Governor Patrick will fly to D.C. with Mrs. Patrick to have a social dinner tonight with the President at the White House. The Patricks will return to MA tomorrow morning. The Governor is currently wrapping up a 90+ minute cabinet meeting at the State House.”
The pool report said a White House official confirmed Patrick’s office’s statement.
Patrick has been considered a contender to take over as Obama’s Department of Justice in a second term if Attorney General Eric Holder ends up resigning.
As contempt of Congress proceedings were heating up around Holder’s failure to comply with the congressional subpoena for Operation Fast and Furious documents, the Boston Herald ran a headline saying Patrick was “mentioned as Holder replacement.”
Talk about Holder’s resignation has fired back up in recent days as he suggested he might step down in remarks to University of Baltimore law school students after Obama was re-elected.
“That’s something that I’m in the process now of trying to determine,” Holder told the students about the possibility of his return in Obama’s second term. “I have to think about, can I contribute in a second term?”
“[I have to] really ask myself the question about, do I think there are things that I still want to do? Do I have gas left in the tank? It’s been an interesting and tough four years, so I really just don’t know,” Holder added.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has also reportedly been considered for the attorney general position, as have several others.