WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated his chief of staff, Jacob “Jack” Lew, for treasury secretary yesterday, immediately throwing him into the front line of federal budget wars with congressional Republicans if confirmed.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) blasted the nomination, pointing to congressional testimony in which Lew, Obama’s former budget director, said the 2011 budget would not add to the national debt.
Lew will face tough sledding during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Budget Committee.
“Jack Lew must never be secretary of the treasury,” Sessions, the lead Republican on the panel, said in a statement.
Lew, a Queens native, is a veteran of budget battles, having served as a staffer to former House Speaker Tip O’Neill, who negotiated a rescue of Social Security with then-President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.