Senate Confirms Jack Lew As The Next Treasury Secretary

The Senate voted 71-26 today to confirm the nomination of Jacob "Jack" Lew as the country's next Treasury secretary.

Lew served as Obama's chief of staff. As NPR's Mara Liason reported, he "has had years of experience toiling in the fiscal trenches. ... Before he was White House chief of staff, Lew was Obama's budget director — a job he'd also held in the Clinton White House. After serving in the Clinton administration, Lew followed the well-worn path from White House to Wall Street."

As we reported, Lew faced a much easier path to confirmation than other Obama nominees, especially Chuck Hagel, who was sworn in this morning as secretary of defense.

The only big question Senators raised about Lew had to do with a $1 million bonus he accepted from Citigroup just as the bank was getting bailed out by the federal government.

Lew will replace Timothy Geithner.

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