Obama Makes It Official, Picks Chief Of Staff Jack Lew To Head Treasury
President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated his chief of staff, Jack Lew, as the next Treasury secretary, praising him as a expert on the pressing national issues of U.S. government spending cuts and deficit reduction.
If confirmed by the Senate as expected, Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner and take the lead on difficult negotiations with Congress on how to cut the nation’s massive debt and rein in spending – a central challenge for Obama’s second term.
Not a surprise, given Wednesday’s reports:
President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be his second-term Secretary of the Treasury, turning to one of Washington’s most knowledgeable budget experts to manage prickly fiscal negotiations with Congress and steer the still-shaky national economy.
Lew’s nomination, expected Thursday, accelerates the overhaul of Obama’s top advisers, with new leaders at the Pentagon, State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and Labor Department. Obama also must replace Lew with a new chief of staff, and that could have a ripple effect through the West Wing’s senior ranks.
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