Treasury Secretary Snow to Resign
Embattled Treasury Secretary John Snow is stepping down.
Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who has presided during a period of strong economic growth but at times seemed out of sync with President Bush, has informed the White House that he will resign in the coming days after three years as the nation’s chief economic officer, a source close to Snow said yesterday. Snow asked the White House to announce his resignation in early June and said he plans to stay in the job no later than July 3 while a replacement is sought, the source said. The secretary’s decision was intended to bring finality to a process that has played out awkwardly in public over months as Snow’s job security has been a regular source of Washington speculation.
Republican insiders said possible candidates to succeed Snow include former commerce secretary Donald L. Evans, a longtime Bush friend; Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, a former Kellogg Co. chief executive; Ambassador David C. Mulford, a former treasury undersecretary who represents the United States in India; and Stephen Friedman, the president’s former chief economic adviser and a former Goldman Sachs chief executive.
Frankly, the fuss over Snow has long baffled me. He’s been a virtually invisible figure other than the constant speculation over who will replace him, yet the economy has rebounded under his tenure. Further, the extent to which the Treasury Secretary actually impacts the state of the economy has never been clear; his influence is certainly well below that of the Fed Chairman and Commerce Secretary.
Interestingly, this story is in yesterday’s WaPo–on A5, no less–but this is the first I’ve heard of it.
I’ve been seeing headlines that he was “ready” to go or “wanted” to go, for the last few days.
I didn’t post on it myself because, well, I don’t care.