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| Barack Obama expected to nominate Jack Lew as treasury secretary | Barack Obama expected to nominate Jack Lew as treasury secretary |
| (8 days later) | |
| Barack Obama is expected to nominate Capitol Hill veteran Jack Lew, his current head of staff, to succeed Tim Geithner as his treasury secretary, according to reports emerging in the US. | Barack Obama is expected to nominate Capitol Hill veteran Jack Lew, his current head of staff, to succeed Tim Geithner as his treasury secretary, according to reports emerging in the US. |
| Lew will play a critical role in the coming weeks and months, as the White House faces bruising negotiations over spending cuts and the government's debt ceiling. | Lew will play a critical role in the coming weeks and months, as the White House faces bruising negotiations over spending cuts and the government's debt ceiling. |
| Despite the last minute deal struck on New Year's Day to prevent the US plunging over the "fiscal cliff" – which would have involved $600bn (£374bn) of automatic spending cuts and tax rises – many of the difficult decisions were postponed. | Despite the last minute deal struck on New Year's Day to prevent the US plunging over the "fiscal cliff" – which would have involved $600bn (£374bn) of automatic spending cuts and tax rises – many of the difficult decisions were postponed. |
| Obama has come to trust the current White House chief of staff as a seasoned Capitol Hill negotiator, who cut his teeth working for former House speaker Tip O'Neill in the 1970s. | Obama has come to trust the current White House chief of staff as a seasoned Capitol Hill negotiator, who cut his teeth working for former House speaker Tip O'Neill in the 1970s. |
| Republicans, however, have frequently criticised his political stance and abrasive manner in dealing with the budget negotiations in his current job. | Republicans, however, have frequently criticised his political stance and abrasive manner in dealing with the budget negotiations in his current job. |
| Even before Lew's nomination was formally announced, Republicans in Washington were expressing strong misgivings about a politician seen as left-leaning and partisan. | Even before Lew's nomination was formally announced, Republicans in Washington were expressing strong misgivings about a politician seen as left-leaning and partisan. |
| Like Geithner, who was a former Goldman Sachs staffer, Lew also had a stint on Wall Street, though in his case it was a relatively brief stint at Citicorp from 2006 to 2010 that interrupted a career in Washington stretching back to Richard Nixon's presidency in 1973. | Like Geithner, who was a former Goldman Sachs staffer, Lew also had a stint on Wall Street, though in his case it was a relatively brief stint at Citicorp from 2006 to 2010 that interrupted a career in Washington stretching back to Richard Nixon's presidency in 1973. |
| Obama is likely to have been impressed by Lew's role as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Bill Clinton in the 1990s, when spending controls and a fast-growing economy ensured that George W Bush inherited a budget surplus when he moved in to the White House in 2001. | Obama is likely to have been impressed by Lew's role as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Bill Clinton in the 1990s, when spending controls and a fast-growing economy ensured that George W Bush inherited a budget surplus when he moved in to the White House in 2001. |
| Assuming a deal is eventually secured between the Obama administration and Congress, Lew is also seen as having the necessary credentials to sell a package to grassroots Democrats concerned about spending cuts. | Assuming a deal is eventually secured between the Obama administration and Congress, Lew is also seen as having the necessary credentials to sell a package to grassroots Democrats concerned about spending cuts. |
| Geithner's decision to stand down at the start of Obama's second term as president had been expected. | Geithner's decision to stand down at the start of Obama's second term as president had been expected. |
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