Jack Lew becomes US Treasury Secretary

President Barack Obama's former chief of staff Jack Lew was confirmed Wednesday as the next US Treasury secretary, as he readied for a potentially key role in crucial budget negotiations.
A comfortable majority in the US Senate voted to confirm Lew, a former White House budget director and Wall Street executive, providing Obama with a second new cabinet appointment approval in as many days.

Lew's most pressing task will be to find a compromise to lessen the economic blow from $85 billion in government spending cuts set to kick in on Friday.

But two more deadlines will quickly follow. Funds for most government operations expire on March 27, and the U.S. government is expected to hit its legal borrowing limit on May 19, setting the stage for a default unless an agreement can be secured to raise the debt ceiling again.

Lew, 57, led talks with Congress in 2011 that averted a U.S. debt default. At the time, he antagonized Republicans and even some Democrats with his unwavering defense of government-run benefit programs.

His status as an Obama confidant may give him more authority in representing the administration during fiscal talks. But his close relationship with the White House has also raised some hackles.

"He's got a political staff mentality, not an august, independent personality of leadership," said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, who had pressed lawmakers to vote against Lew.

During the confirmation process, Lew also had to confront questions about his investment in the Cayman Islands tax haven and a nearly $1 million bonus he received from Citigroup in 2009, just before the bank got a taxpayer-funded bailout.

And Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa berated Lew for not disclosing more details about a $1.4 million loan he received while working as an executive with New York University.

Lawmakers in both parties praised Lew when he said revamping the byzantine U.S. tax code would be a top priority. But prospects for achieving tax reform are clouded by Washington's constant fiscal fights.

The new secretary also will have to deal with the growing clout of China.

He has pledged to press the world's second-largest economy to further loosen its currency restrictions. Lawmakers have complained China keeps the value of the yuan artificially low to boost its exports, hurting American manufacturers.

Other delicate tasks for Lew include implementing new financial regulations and finding a way to wind down government-controlled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have drawn almost $190 billion from the Treasury.