Geithner's planned departure puts Obama in tough spot

WASHINGTON - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plans to leave near the end of January put the White House in a tricky spot, depriving the Obama administration of its longest-serving economic adviser for its next fiscal showdown with Congress.

Geithner, who spent his years as Treasury secretary battling the financial crisis and then fighting with Republican lawmakers in 2011 over raising the US debt ceiling, has wanted to leave government service for some time.

US President Barack Obama (R) walks off stage with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner after speaking about his meeting on infrastructure investment, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in this Oct 11, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

The Treasury Department said Geithner "has previously stated that he plans to be at Treasury until around" the Jan 21 inauguration.

The department said it did not plan to make any further announcements about the timing of Geithner's departure until after his successor is named. Bloomberg News reported that Geithner would leave at the end of January.

Obama chose Geithner to lead the just-ended negotiations with Congress to avert the Dec 31 fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes that threatened to push the economy back into recession.

But the deal, which preserved most of the Bush-era tax breaks for Americans, sets up a series of crucial fiscal deadlines by delaying automatic spending cuts until March 1 and not increasing the government's borrowing limit.

That puts Obama in the tough spot of nominating another Treasury secretary and asking the Senate to approve his choice when lawmakers are in the middle of another budget battle.

"The confirmation process will be nasty regardless as it will be a referendum on Obama's economic and deficit plans," said Chris Krueger, a policy analyst with Guggenheim Partners.

Geithner has already resorted to using emergency measures in order to give the Treasury Department the ability to pay government bills and avoid a damaging debt default.

The country hit its $16.4 trillion debt limit Dec 31, and the Treasury is on track to run out of funds in February. If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling on time, the United States would default on its debt payments and roil markets worldwide.

"From a confidence standpoint, you don't want to change the man at the top during a crisis," said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies & Co in New York, adding that Geithner could still provide guidance as an adviser after he leaves.

Lawmakers are at war with each other over the size of government, and Republicans plan to use the debt ceiling increase to extract massive spending cuts from Democrats. And Geithner had managed to win the respect of Republican lawmakers, especially in the volatile House of Representatives.