Despite a whirlwind of rumors that he was about to step down as Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner will stay at his post through the end of Barack Obama's terms,
Politco reports.
Geithner had reportedly wanted to step down and devote more attention to his family although the White House has put immense pressure on the former New York Federal Reserve chief to stick around through the end of the president's term.
Publicly, Geithner has yet to announce plans to leave — or to stay.
"I haven’t made that decision yet," Geithner told ABC News recently.
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Timothy Geithner
(Getty Images photo)
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"We’ve got a lot of challenges, president’s got a lot of challenges, and, you know, I got other pressures on me, too. But I’ll make that decision at the right moment."
President Barack Obama and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley want Geithner to stay in part to avoid a fierce uphill battle getting a successor confirmed in the Senate,
The New York Times reports.
Geithner, meanwhile, is breathing a sigh of relief now that Congress has approved lifting the government's $14.3 trillion debt limit and avoiding default.
Geithner had warned of the infamous Aug. 2 deadline to do as such, and Congress gave the administration the green light at the last minute.
Still, the economy needs more work.
"This agreement is the beginning of restoring fiscal sustainability. It is a substantial down payment, but not the end of the debate," Geithner writes in an opinion article in the Washington Post.
"The government's ability to make smart, long-term budget choices has long been broken. This gives us a chance to fix it."
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