WASHINGTON  Senator Judd Gregg, named by President Obama on Tuesday as the choice for commerce secretary, once supported eliminating the department he is to lead. He differs with his boss-to-be in favoring oil drilling on the coast of an Alaska wildlife refuge. He promotes a lighter touch with China than does the president. And he disagrees with him in backing private accounts for Social Security.

Given all that, Mr. Gregg, a deficit hawk from New Hampshire who is the senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, certainly fits with Mr. Obama’s professed desire to create a cabinet with conflicting views. If confirmed, he will be at the top of the list of administration officials having fundamental differences with a president who is enlisting them to advance his agenda.

Mr. Obama acknowledged as much when he announced Tuesday morning that he was nominating Mr. Gregg. “Clearly,” he told reporters, “Judd and I don’t agree on every issue.”

Mr. Gregg himself said in an interview that while the two had differences, he did not foresee being asked to promote any policy violating his conscience.