Obama set to name Fed president as treasury chief
US President-elect Barack Obama intends to name the president of the New York Federal Reserve as his treasury secretary to confront the country’s intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said. The stock market soared on the news.
If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Timothy Geithner, 47, would assume chief responsibility for tackling an economic slowdown and credit crunch that threaten to create the deepest recession in more than a generation.
In his current post in New York, he has played a key role in the government’s response to the financial crisis and has worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.
As a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, Mr Geithner dealt with international financial crises and played a major part in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.
Word of Mr Geithner’s likely selection emerged as New York Senator Hillary Clinton, in line to become secretary of state, said through a spokesman that discussions were on track for her appointment but no final arrangement had been made.
Mr Obama plans to announce Mr Geithner’s appointment in Chicago on Monday, barring an unforeseen snag in a background check that is nearly complete.
Mr Obama’s choice for attorney general, a third critical post as the president-elect rounds out his top Cabinet echelon, is Eric Holder, who held the number two slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Officials also said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state.
Like Mrs Clinton, he was a rival of Mr Obama’s for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner.
The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the anticipated appointments.
It was not clear when Mr Obama intended to formally unveil any of his other picks for the administration that takes office at the stroke of noon on January 20.
The president-elect has largely stayed out of public view since his election on November 4, preferring to work quietly with aides and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in a suite of offices in downtown Chicago.
