Ruth Porat got cold feet.
Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer has taken herself out of the running for the No. 2 job at the Treasury Department after months of speculation that she was all but certain to join the Obama administration.
The 56-year-old high-profile Wall Streeter, who had been the top candidate to work alongside Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, called the White House late Wednesday to remove her name after fretting about possibly being raked over the coals during a Senate confirmation hearing, sources told The Post.
Porat, one of the highest-ranking women on The Street, had confided to friends about not wanting to face the type of heat and acrimony that Lew endured. The new Treasury Secretary was grilled extensively during his hearing over his pay at Citigroup and at New York University. He was eventually confirmed in a 71-26 vote.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted Lew for a $1.4 million housing loan he got from NYU, as first reported by The Post.
A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment.
Bloomberg News first reported that Porat would be staying at Morgan Stanley, where she earned a total of $20.2 million in 2010 and 2011, according to filings.
She has long had aspirations to work in Washington, but told executives that “now might not be the right time.”
Although Porat had not yet submitted the required tax information to investigators — the first part of the vetting process — she had been considered the candidate the Obama administration was counting on, sources said.
Lew, insiders noted, was upset upon learning that she was not willing to go through the confirmation process.
The White House will now likely focus on inside-the-Beltway candidates who could gain confirmation more easily, a source said.
What’s more, the decision by Porat, who is vacationing in Florida this week with her family, also could throw a monkey wrench into succession planning at Morgan Stanley.
Chief Executive James Gorman has not appointed a president of the bank; with leading contenders originally viewed as Colm Kelleher, head of the firm’s investment bank, and Greg Fleming, asset management chief.
To be sure, Gorman isn’t in any rush to tap a president — a move that would signal his likely successor.
Also swaying Porat’s decision to stay was the feeling that the bank is on the right track toward recovering its former glory as it weans itself from depending on revenues from investment banking and focuses more on its 17,000-strong brokerage team, according to sources.
One source familiar with Porat’s thinking said she had to weigh how she felt about continuing to work at Morgan Stanley against the possibility of dealing with a “body cavity search” in the Senate.
Sources say that Porat still has designs on eventually working in Washington.