Obama to nominate Lew as Treasury chief

White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew listens at a bipartisan meeting with Congressional leaders in the Roosevelt Room of White House to discuss the economy, in this Nov 16, 2012, file photo. US President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew as his next Treasury secretary on Jan 10, 2013, replacing Timothy Geithner, according to a source familiar with the matter.[Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will nominate White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to be his next Treasury secretary, choosing a budget expert and close confidant to spearhead tough fiscal fights with Congress over the US deficit.

If confirmed by the Senate, Lew would replace Timothy Geithner, the longest-serving member of Obama's original economic team, who has said he would step down after one term.

A source familiar with the matter said Lew, who had been widely expected to be tapped for the role, will be nominated on Thursday.

The announcement would round out a slew of cabinet choices Obama has made in recent weeks that will help set the agenda for his second term.

Lew served as budget director for Obama and for former President Bill Clinton. A 57-year-old policy wonk, he will have to confront a host of tricky economic topics ranging from how best to scale back the government's role in the housing market to how to respond to China's economic heft.

But the high-profile Washington battle over how to rein in the growth of the nation's debt and put the budget on a sustainable path will dominate his tenure.

Lew helped spearhead acrimonious talks with congressional leaders in 2011 that preceded approval of an increase in the US debt ceiling. He will have to reprise that role in the next two months, when another debt ceiling deadline looms.

Though he is mistrusted by a number of Republicans, Lew has some bipartisan credentials that might help him in budget talks.

The one-time Citigroup executive honed his political skills as a policy adviser to Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill, who is touted as a symbol of bipartisanship because he worked with Republican President Ronald Reagan to change the tax code and the Social Security retirement program in the 1980s.

"Jack is more concerned about what's fair than any personal attention or credit," said Pamela Jackson, who worked with Lew when O'Neill was speaker. "He was an integral and important part of those (tax policy and Social Security) negotiations as a trusted adviser to the speaker," she said.    

Lew is an orthodox Jew and observes the Sabbath holiday, which requires him not to work, including answering phones, between Friday evenings and sunset on Saturday. Lew has said he is available to work in emergencies on Saturdays and does not view doing so as a violation of his faith.

During Obama's re-election campaign, Lew campaigned for the president among Jewish constituents in Florida.

Lew would join Senator John Kerry, Obama's choice for secretary of state, and former Senator Chuck Hagel, nominated for defense chief, in the top tier of the president's circle of advisers.

His nomination will leave open the position of chief of staff. Obama's deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, is considered the top candidate to take on that role.