WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are preparing to filibuster a second of President Obama’s Cabinet picks, slowing Jack Lew’s nomination as treasury secretary after a series of revelations about his cushy compensation deal as an NYU exec.
The Senate Finance Committee voted 19-5 to send Lew’s nomination to the full Senate as dissenting senators raised further complaints about his contract at NYU. A Senate aide said Republicans would object when Democrats try to bring up Lew’s nomination for a floor vote today.
As The Post reported last week, Lew’s NYU contract included a $1.4 million loan, plus a salary that topped $900,000 in one year and other six-figure perks.
A source familiar with the five-year contract said it also guaranteed Lew a year’s salary even if he left early — an amount that roughly coincides with a reported severance payment of nearly $700,000. Lew’s kids also got a tuition benefit valued at up to $250,000. Lew is still expected to get the 60 votes needed to break the filibuster, just like Chuck Hagel did yesterday as defense-secretary nominee.
“What we have seen so far is that Mr. Lew is very good at getting paid by tax- exempt organizations,” fumed Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), one of five Republicans to vote against him.