Sources told CNN and other news outlets Thursday that Geithner is considering leaving the Obama administration later this year, once negotiations on raising the government's debt ceiling and cutting the budget deficit are complete. Geithner's family is moving back to the New York suburbs where they lived before he took office so his son can finish high school there. And as the head of Treasury through the worst financial crisis in a generation, and the last key member of President Obama's original economic team still on the job, a desire to leave wouldn't be a shock.
Geithner tried to tamp down the reports of his imminent departure when speaking in Chicago Thursday by saying he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Still, economists and Washington experts were already talking about who might take over the high-profile job. Near the top of the list is current White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, a close Obama confidant and someone who was brought in at least partly because of his good relationship with the business community.
Before taking the job in the administration earlier this year, Daley had been an executive at JPMorgan Chase. He also served as Secretary of Commerce in the second term of the Clinton Administration. Also at the top of many lists is Erskine Bowles, the Democratic co-chairman of the president's bipartisan commission on cutting the budget deficit. Bowles, who had served as White House Chief of Staff in the Clinton administration, would be an relatively easy pick to get confirmed given the budget cutting emphasis in Congress today, according some experts.
But when contacted Friday, Bowles, 65, appeared to take himself out of running for the job, saying that he is not interested in any full-time job at this point in his career. "I am looking forward to being useful in part-time endeavors," he said. Investment banker Roger Altman is another name that has been mentioned, but his name has surfaced for previous openings on the Obama economic team without ever getting tapped for a position.
And White House Budget Director Jacob Lew, who has been central to negotiations on the debt ceiling and deficit reduction, is another name suggested by experts. Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who is often described as "Obama's favorite banker" is another prominent name mentioned. A spokesman for the nation's second largest bank holding company had no comment on whether his boss would be interested in the job.
MORE
