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| Jack Lew set to confront succession of fiscal crises as treasury secretary | Jack Lew set to confront succession of fiscal crises as treasury secretary |
| (7 days later) | |
| President Barack Obama is set to name his current chief of staff, Jack Lew, to the most thankless job in American politics: treasury secretary. | President Barack Obama is set to name his current chief of staff, Jack Lew, to the most thankless job in American politics: treasury secretary. |
| With Timothy Geithner leaving the post after four years, Lew is to take over the unenviable task of wrestling with America's lacklustre economy and sclerotic banking system. | With Timothy Geithner leaving the post after four years, Lew is to take over the unenviable task of wrestling with America's lacklustre economy and sclerotic banking system. |
| An official announcement of Lew's nomination is to be made by Obama on Thursday. | An official announcement of Lew's nomination is to be made by Obama on Thursday. |
| The 57-year old Lew is a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, and regarded as a policy wonk even within a White House filled with policy wonks. His credentials will be tested as soon as his appointment has been confirmed by the Senate, with a trio of crises arriving before Lew has time to warm his new seat at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue. | The 57-year old Lew is a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, and regarded as a policy wonk even within a White House filled with policy wonks. His credentials will be tested as soon as his appointment has been confirmed by the Senate, with a trio of crises arriving before Lew has time to warm his new seat at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue. |
| The first problem facing Lew is also the most byzantine, with the US government due to hit the so-called "debt ceiling" of $16.4tn in borrowing allowed under current law by the end of next month. The Republicans who control the House of Representatives have vowed to extract concessions in the form of spending cuts from the White House in return for raising the debt ceiling – but President Obama has said he will not negotiate. | The first problem facing Lew is also the most byzantine, with the US government due to hit the so-called "debt ceiling" of $16.4tn in borrowing allowed under current law by the end of next month. The Republicans who control the House of Representatives have vowed to extract concessions in the form of spending cuts from the White House in return for raising the debt ceiling – but President Obama has said he will not negotiate. |
| In doing so Obama hopes to avoid a repeat of the damaging 2011 fight over the same ground, even if a failure to raise the debt ceiling could force the US to default on some debt repayments, an event that would send shockwaves through international capital markets. | In doing so Obama hopes to avoid a repeat of the damaging 2011 fight over the same ground, even if a failure to raise the debt ceiling could force the US to default on some debt repayments, an event that would send shockwaves through international capital markets. |
| If Lew survives that, then the start of March is scheduled to see the start of deep budget cuts triggered by the sequester deal of 2011 and subsequently delayed by the New Year's Eve deal in Congress. The end of the same month sees the end of funding for the US government as another fudged congressional deal expires. | If Lew survives that, then the start of March is scheduled to see the start of deep budget cuts triggered by the sequester deal of 2011 and subsequently delayed by the New Year's Eve deal in Congress. The end of the same month sees the end of funding for the US government as another fudged congressional deal expires. |
| The succession of fiscal deadlines is part of the explanation why president Obama decided to shift Lew from his West Wing office as White House chief of staff into the treasury, since Lew's career is studded with the sort of experience that will be in demand during the negotiations ahead. | The succession of fiscal deadlines is part of the explanation why president Obama decided to shift Lew from his West Wing office as White House chief of staff into the treasury, since Lew's career is studded with the sort of experience that will be in demand during the negotiations ahead. |
| Lew's record includes a period as the White House budget director under Bill Clinton and again as head of the Office of Management and Budget during Obama's first term, where his grasp of the complexity of federal spending and taxation policy made him a formidable opponent to congressional Republicans in 2011. | Lew's record includes a period as the White House budget director under Bill Clinton and again as head of the Office of Management and Budget during Obama's first term, where his grasp of the complexity of federal spending and taxation policy made him a formidable opponent to congressional Republicans in 2011. |
| Yet towards the start of his career, back in 1983, Lew was an aide to the then speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, during the groundbreaking deal between O'Neill and President Ronald Reagan over social security. Lew was also a member of the Clinton-era team that engineered bipartisan pacts and enjoyed a federal budget surplus in the late 1990s. | Yet towards the start of his career, back in 1983, Lew was an aide to the then speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, during the groundbreaking deal between O'Neill and President Ronald Reagan over social security. Lew was also a member of the Clinton-era team that engineered bipartisan pacts and enjoyed a federal budget surplus in the late 1990s. |
| Lew's confirmation hearings in the Senate are likely to include a look at his three years working at Citi from 2006, where his roles included chief operating officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments, a $54bn proprietary trading and private equity unit at the heart of what would become Wall Street's sub-prime mortgage disaster. | Lew's confirmation hearings in the Senate are likely to include a look at his three years working at Citi from 2006, where his roles included chief operating officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments, a $54bn proprietary trading and private equity unit at the heart of what would become Wall Street's sub-prime mortgage disaster. |
| His time at Citigroup aside, Lew's long career in government makes him an unusual figure compared with recent treasury secretaries, who have been drawn from banking, industry or – in the case of Clinton appointee Larry Summers – academia. | His time at Citigroup aside, Lew's long career in government makes him an unusual figure compared with recent treasury secretaries, who have been drawn from banking, industry or – in the case of Clinton appointee Larry Summers – academia. |
| Lew follows in the footsteps of James Baker, who Ronald Reagan promoted from White House chief of staff to treasury secretary. | Lew follows in the footsteps of James Baker, who Ronald Reagan promoted from White House chief of staff to treasury secretary. |
| Unlike Baker, a courtly Texan, Lew is a low-key figure, an observant Orthodox Jew and native New Yorker, of whom the New York Times once revealed: "He brings his own lunch (a cheese sandwich and an apple) and eats at his desk." | Unlike Baker, a courtly Texan, Lew is a low-key figure, an observant Orthodox Jew and native New Yorker, of whom the New York Times once revealed: "He brings his own lunch (a cheese sandwich and an apple) and eats at his desk." |
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