Timothy Geithner to stay at Treasury
By BEN WHITE | 8/7/11 4:05 PM EDT
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will stay at his post through the fall and President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, the Treasury Department announced Sunday.
“Secretary Geithner has let the president know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Jenni LeCompte said in a statement. “He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney added in a separate statement that the president “asked Secretary Geithner to stay on at Treasury and welcomes his decision.”
Geithner informed Obama of his decision on Friday, according to a source who was briefed on the discussion.
He is the final remaining member of Obama’s original economic team — and the one the president has always been closest to and relied upon most, especially in times of crisis.
The announcement that he will stay may help ease some of the jitters already showing up in global markets ahead of the opening on Wall Street on Monday. On Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the nation’s top-notch AAA credit rating for the first time in history.
The turmoil created by the S&P downgrade made it an especially difficult time for the U.S. to change Treasury secretaries. Geithner, the president’s top economic aide, is the key official helping to manage market reaction to the S&P move, along with other global economic leaders.
Tea party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and a few other Republicans have called on Obama to replace Geithner in the wake of S&P’s action.
“For months, he opposed all efforts to reduce the debt in return for a debt ceiling increase,” DeMint said Friday. “His opposition to serious spending and debt reforms has been reckless and now the American people will pay the price.”
But Geithner had been under pressure to stay from top administration officials, who did not want him to go while the economic recovery remains weak and any replacement would face a tough confirmation by the Senate.
Other top administration economic advisers, including National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, have departed in recent months. Goolsbee’s last day was Friday.
Obama stood by Geithner in some of the darkest days for the Treasury secretary. Immediately after Geithner took office, critics began calling for his resignation over the rescue of faltering insurance giant AIG.
That rescue has been a surprising success.
Obama also backed Geithner when questions were raised about back taxes Geithner owed and subsequently repaid.
Geithner preferred to return to New York City, where his family now resides and where his son is finishing his last year in high school.
He also had hoped to leave after the conclusion of the protracted debt ceiling negotiations — and before bruising battles over tax, entitlement and housing reforms resume in earnest this fall.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60830.html
By BEN WHITE | 8/7/11 4:05 PM EDT
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will stay at his post through the fall and President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, the Treasury Department announced Sunday.
“Secretary Geithner has let the president know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Jenni LeCompte said in a statement. “He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney added in a separate statement that the president “asked Secretary Geithner to stay on at Treasury and welcomes his decision.”
Geithner informed Obama of his decision on Friday, according to a source who was briefed on the discussion.
He is the final remaining member of Obama’s original economic team — and the one the president has always been closest to and relied upon most, especially in times of crisis.
The announcement that he will stay may help ease some of the jitters already showing up in global markets ahead of the opening on Wall Street on Monday. On Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the nation’s top-notch AAA credit rating for the first time in history.
The turmoil created by the S&P downgrade made it an especially difficult time for the U.S. to change Treasury secretaries. Geithner, the president’s top economic aide, is the key official helping to manage market reaction to the S&P move, along with other global economic leaders.
Tea party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and a few other Republicans have called on Obama to replace Geithner in the wake of S&P’s action.
“For months, he opposed all efforts to reduce the debt in return for a debt ceiling increase,” DeMint said Friday. “His opposition to serious spending and debt reforms has been reckless and now the American people will pay the price.”
But Geithner had been under pressure to stay from top administration officials, who did not want him to go while the economic recovery remains weak and any replacement would face a tough confirmation by the Senate.
Other top administration economic advisers, including National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, have departed in recent months. Goolsbee’s last day was Friday.
Obama stood by Geithner in some of the darkest days for the Treasury secretary. Immediately after Geithner took office, critics began calling for his resignation over the rescue of faltering insurance giant AIG.
That rescue has been a surprising success.
Obama also backed Geithner when questions were raised about back taxes Geithner owed and subsequently repaid.
Geithner preferred to return to New York City, where his family now resides and where his son is finishing his last year in high school.
He also had hoped to leave after the conclusion of the protracted debt ceiling negotiations — and before bruising battles over tax, entitlement and housing reforms resume in earnest this fall.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/60830.html