Senate Confirms Jack Lew as Treasury Secretary

Following a vote in the Senate, Jack Lew is officially the Secretary of the ""Treasury"":http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx.

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The Senate ""voted"":http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00025 Wednesday 71-26 to confirm Lew, who was previously ""President Obama's"":http://www.whitehouse.gov/ chief of staff. Lew replaces Tim Geithner, who stepped down at the end of January; deputy secretary Neal Wolin had been filling in in the meantime.

Lew is a former managing director and COO of Citi Global Wealth Management and Citi Alternative Investments. He was also EVP and COO of New York University, where he served as a professor of public administration.

His confirmation wasn't without obstacles. Shortly after his nomination, ""Politico"":http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/lessons-learned-obama-takes-fights-to-congress-85936_Page2.html reported Republicans ""don't view Lew as a man interested in hearing GOP concerns,"" and one aide reportedly called him ""tone deaf"" in understanding compromises acceptable to Republicans.

The White House released a statement from the president in response to Lew's confirmation in which Obama describes his former chief of staff as ""a master of fiscal issues who can work with leaders on both sides of the aisle.""

""I am pleased that the Senate took bipartisan action today to confirm Jack Lew as our nation's next Treasury Secretary. ... And I will continue to rely on his advice and sound judgment as we work to create good, middle-class jobs, provide more people with the skills those jobs require, and ensure every hardworking American can earn a decent living,"" Obama said.