President Obama and Jack Lew(Photo: Susan Walsh, AP)
Now that President Obama has filled big jobs at the Pentagon and the
CIA, he turns his attention to another major appointment: Treasury
Secretary.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew is considered the favorite to replace Timothy Geithner, who plans to leave Treasury later this month.
We may hear something later this week.
The
Treasury Secretary is an important -- and difficult -- job as Obama and
congressional Republicans debate what to do about deficit reduction,
the debt ceiling, and a new plan to fund the government in the months
ahead.
Lew, 57, a veteran government official, has seen his share of budget battles over the years.
Three
decades ago, as an aide House Speaker Tip O'Neill, D-Mass., Lew helped
worked on a major Social Security agreement with President Ronald
Reagan's White House.
Lew later served as budget director for
President Bill Clinton, who clashed repeatedly over the budget with a
Republican House led by Newt Gingrich.
USA Today