Geithner To Leave Treasury By The End Of January

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reportedly plans to leave office by the end of January regardless of whether a debt ceiling deal has been reached or not:

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter.

After giving in to Obama’s previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the private talks.

Geithner, 51, is the only remaining member of Obama’s original economic team and was a key figure in the taxpayer- funded bailouts during the 2008 financial crisis. He’s also had a principal role in negotiations with Congress on the budget deal and in past deliberations over the debt ceiling.

White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew remains the leading contender for the Treasury job, the people said. Because Lew’s experience in financial markets is thin, Obama may seek to name a Wall Street executive as deputy Treasury secretary, they said.

Since it seems beyond the realm of any reasonable possibility that we’ll have a debt ceiling deal by the end of the month, one presumes that this means that Geithner will not be heavily involved in any debt ceiling negotiations. Although that may not matter since both sides seem to be saying they’re not going to negotiate.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Franklin says:

    Obama may seek to name a Wall Street executive as deputy Treasury secretary

    Oh, great.

  2. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Unfortunately for the country this didn’t happen back in January 2009. Except for Bernanke — who’s on a completely other level of insanity — arguably nobody has done more to harm our long-term fiscal and economic prospects than Geithner. The ghastly irony is that Gen. Y will have to pay the eventual tab and that’ll be tantamount to having a street urchin try to purchase a McMansion in Beverly Hills. Good luck and good night.

    Jack Lew is about a qualified for Treasury as a Madden player is qualified to run a NFL franchise, but based upon past nominations and appointments — Van Jones, Stephen Chu, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, etc. — it would be par for the course.

  3. edmondo says:

    I wonder which Wall Street bank has to hire Timmy to pay off his largesse fr the last for years?

  4. Dave Schuler says:

    Presumably to go and collect his paycheck.

  5. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Well, there goes his incentive to NOT cheat on his taxes any more…

    I’m gonna miss the irony of having a confessed and confirmed tax cheat in charge of the IRS. It’s been a wonderful cudgel.

  6. Tyrell says:

    Note to Secretary Geithner: Good by and don’ t forget to take Mr. Bernanke with you.