The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed a key ally of President Barack Obama to serve as the next treasury secretary.
The Senate voted 71-26 to approve White House chief of staff Jack
Lew for the position.
The move puts a key Obama confidant into the cabinet's top
economic post amid ongoing economic uncertainty and crucial budget
negotiations with Congress.
Obama is reshuffling his cabinet at the start of his second term,
with new faces at the State Department, Defence Department and
elsewhere. Earlier Wednesday, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel began
work at the Pentagon a day after being confirmed in a largely
partisan vote in the Senate.
Lew received more bipartisan support than Hagel, whose past
statements about Israel and Iran had haunted his confirmation, with
just four Republicans joining Democrats in supporting him.
The Senate Banking Committee Tuesday cleared Lew in a 19-5 vote.
Lew, a long-time Washington insider, succeeds first-term treasury
secretary Timothy Geithner, who left office on January 26.
Lew, 57, has been Obama's chief of staff since January 2012. He
previously served as chief of the White House Office of Management
and Budget under both Obama from 2010-12 and under president Bill
Clinton from 1998-2001.
"At this critical time for our economy and our country, there is
no one more qualified for this position than Jack," Obama said in a
statement welcoming Lew's confirmation.
"His reputation as a master of fiscal issues who can work with
leaders on both sides of the aisle has already helped him succeed in
some of the toughest jobs in Washington," Obama said.
Lew told the Senate earlier this month in his confirmation hearing
that the United States economy has overcome the financial crisis that
Obama faced on taking office in 2009, but more progress is needed.
"We're in a better position today, but the work to create a
sounder economy and a safer world remains unfinished," he said in a
hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
"Our top priority is to strengthen the recovery by fostering
private sector job creation and economic growth while we make sure
our economy remains resilient to the headwinds from beyond our
shores."
Lew will face challenges as Obama and Congress square off on a
host of budgetary issues with steep automatic spending cuts totaling
85 billion dollars for the rest of the fiscal year due to take effect
Friday. Those cuts are forecast to slow US economic growth as Obama
seeks to bolster the country's economic footing.
Congress must also hammer together a short-term budget deal that
could see a government shutdown later this month, if the sides cannot
reach agreement.
Lew's nomination was seen as an indication that Obama wants the
Treasury chief to have a role in talks forge a compromise that
tackles the country's debt problem.
As a congressional staffer early in his career, he participated in
negotiations that led to a 1983 agreement that increased revenue for
the Social Security pension scheme, which was in imminent financial
crisis at the time.
In the Clinton White House, Lew helped negotiate the 1997 Balanced
Budget Act before delivering three surplus budgets as OMB director,
an achievement unrivaled in the last several decades.
