Bush Gives Up On Gargano Appointment

President Bush has given up on trying to appoint a former head of the Empire State Development Corporation, Charles Gargano, as ambassador to Austria. The White House late yesterday notified the Senate that it had withdrawn the nomination of Mr. Gargano, which was announced four months ago. The Senate had never acted on Mr. Gargano, a prominent Republican donor who had rankled state Democrats while serving under Governor Pataki as chairman of the ESDC and the vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The withdrawal likely signals opposition from leading Democrats. Messages left with the White House and with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were not returned last night. Mr. Gargano had served as ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago under the first President Bush but was passed over for a post in Rome in 2001.