Geithner Sworn In As New US Treasury Secretary

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

27 January 2009

Timothy Geithner was sworn in as the new US Treasury Secretary on Monday pledging to bring fairness and simplicity to the US tax code and "fundamental" reform to the financial system.

Geithner took the oath in the presence of President Obama shortly after the Senate approved his nomination as Treasury Secretary by 60 votes to 34. His nomination has, however, been shrouded in controversy after irregularities in his tax affairs stemming from his time at the International Monetary Fund came to light.

While Geithner has admitted making mistakes on his tax returns from 2003 and 2004, it has since emerged that he may have underpaid taxes in the two prior tax years, and there remains sufficient doubt over his past tax affairs for some lawmakers to have voted against his nomination. Nonetheless, Geithner's long-awaited confirmation seems to have drawn a line under the affair for now, and with Obama keen to get on with the job of reparing the US economy, he spoke in his acceptance speech of the immense challenges that lay ahead for the new administration.

"We are at a moment of maximum challenge for our economy and our country," he said. "Our agenda is to move quickly to help you do what the country asked you to do. To launch the programs that will bring economic recovery sooner, to make our economy more productive, to restore trust in our financial system with fundamental reform, to make our tax system better at rewarding work and investment, more fair and more simple."

Senator Max Baucus, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is charged with vetting Treasury nominations, believes that, despite the lingering doubts over tax affairs, Geithner is the right man for the job.

“As I said during his confirmation hearing, Tim Geithner has the right expertise and qualifications to lead the President’s economic team at this crucial moment, and I believe that in time, we will see the recovery that Americans are calling for today," he commented.

"The approval of Secretary Geithner is an important step in tackling the economic crisis head-on," he added.

Geithner has most recently held the position of head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and he served as Treasury Department undersecretary in the Clinton administration.

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