London Telegraph ^[1]
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009

The US senate has confirmed Timothy Geithner, the former head of the New York City Federal Reserve branch, as the new treasury secretary in the Obama administration.

The vote, which went 60 to 34 in Mr Geithner’s favour, puts him at the helm of Mr Obama’s plan to rescue the economy.

But the confirmation was not without controversey. Some senators were concerned that Mr Geithner, who will oversee the government’s tax collecting agency, did not pay all of his taxes until he had been nominated to the president’s cabinet.

(Article continues below)

Mr Geithner said the oversight was unintentional and has settled his $34,000 overdue tax bill. He apologised for the errors, calling them “careless”.

His supporters said the nation cannot afford to wait for Mr Obama to search for a new Treasury chief.