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US Senate approves the Treasury Secretary

27 January 2009 07:54 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Zaur Hasanov â€“ APA. Timothy Geithner was approved by the Senate to be Treasury Secretary, putting him at the center of a global effort to arrest the financial crisis and end the longest U.S. recession in a quarter-century.

After two hours of debate, the vote was 60-34 in his favor, the closest post-World War II margin for a Treasury secretary. Geithner, 47, overcame opposition from Republicans who objected on the grounds that he underpaid federal taxes in previous years. Some Democrats also voted against him.

Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2003, will inherit the worst economy in decades, a record budget deficit and a financial system reeling from $1 trillion in writedowns and losses since the start of 2007.

â€œHeâ€™s seen the crisis unfold,â€ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said during two hours of debate before the vote. â€œHeâ€™s uniquely suited to know the difference between what has worked and what has failed.â€

His tasks include persuading Congress to pass an $825 billion fiscal stimulus proposal, managing the second half of a $700 billion bank rescue program and weighing a slate of other proposals to stabilize the financial system and pull the economy out of a 13-month recession.

Geithner will announce President Barack Obamaâ€™s strategy for stabilizing financial firms â€œsoonâ€ after Senate confirmation, Lawrence Summers, director of the White Houseâ€™s National Economic Council, said yesterday.

â€œHe will be laying out the plans and principles behind our approach,â€ Summers said on NBCâ€™s â€œMeet the Pressâ€ program.