Obama likely to name Timothy Geithner to Treasury post

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation’s intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday. The stock market soared on the news.

Word of Geithner’s likely selection emerged as New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in line to become secretary of state, said through a spokesman that discussions were on track for her appointment but no final arrangement had been made.

Obama plans to announce Geithner’s appointment in Chicago on Monday, barring an unforeseen snag in a background check that is nearly complete, said one of the senior officials, both of whom were familiar with the deliberations.

Obama’s choice for attorney general, a third critical post as the president-elect rounds out his top Cabinet echelon, is Eric Holder, who held the No. 2 slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton’s administration.

If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, would assume chief responsibility for tackling an economic slowdown and credit crunch that threaten to create the deepest recession in more than a generation. In his current post in New York, he has played a key role in the government’s response to the financial crisis and has worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.

As a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, Geithner dealt with international financial crises and played a major part in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Officials also said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state. Like Clinton, he was a rival of Obama’s for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama’s choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

The Dow Jones industrials soared by nearly 500 points late in the day, a sharp rise that coincided with first reports of Geithner’s possible appointment.