It seems United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner may be gone by the end of January. A new report suggested that Geithner could leave the department even if President Barack Obama and Congress don't reach a debt deal.
For quite some time now, Geithner has hinted that he would be leaving the Obama administration soon, but two people close to the situation now tell Bloomberg News that he will be gone within just a few weeks.
The source told the news outlet that he would head back to New York and planned to leave Washington once the fiscal cliff negotiations ended.
“Secretary Geithner has previously stated that he plans to be at Treasury until around the inauguration,” a Treasury spokesperson told Politico. “We do not plan to make any further announcements about the timing of the Secretary's departure until after his successor is named.”
The Treasury Secretary is not expected to change his mind like he did last year when he gave into the president’s appeals to stay as long as it takes to get the economy going again and reach a debt ceiling consensus.
At the present time, Geithner remains as the only lasting figure of the president’s economic team. The former New York Federal Reserve Bank president was also instrumental in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that led to $787 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts to the major financial institutions – it was later reported that it soared to $16 trillion.
Who will replace Geithner? It is still unknown, but administration officials have approached American Express Co. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault. However, a spokesperson for Chenault has indicated that he is uninterested in leaving his present position in the private sector.
Meanwhile, the Business Insider notes that White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew is still the frontrunner, but his paucity of financial experience is a deterrent in appointing him to the position.
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