Timothy Geithner To Stay At Treasury Through 2012

After much speculation that he’d be leaving the Obama Administration, Timothy Geithner has decided to stay at the Treasury Department for now:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is staying put.

The secretary informed President Obama that he plans to say on in his position, ending speculation that the last member of President Obama’s original economic team would depart.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says President Obama asked Geithner to stay.

Rumors swirled that Geithner would leave the administration after Congress raised the debt ceiling.  The annoucement comes days after the major credit rating agency, S&P, downgraded the United States’ credit rating.

In a statement, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Public Affairs Jenni LeCompte said Geithner “looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.”

Not really a surprise, actually. Notwithstanding the debt downgrade, its clear that Obama wants Geithner to stay on for the moment, largely because the idea of a confirmation battle right now likely unnerves the Administration. Of course, this will also likely lead to more Republican calls for Geithner’s resignation but that clearly isn’t going to happen.

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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. Catfish says:

    Eliminate the Federal Reserve
    Go back to the gold standard
    Replace Geither
    Watch the economy grow.