Geithner to Remain on as Treasury Secretary

The ""U.S. Treasury Department's"":http://www.treasury.gov top officer is staying put, despite Republican lawmakers' public appeals for him to step down. Tim Geithner has decided to remain in his post as Treasury secretary, the administration announced this weekend.
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It was reported last month that Geithner notified President Obama he was considering resignation once the debate over the government's debt ceiling was resolved, and that he would definitely leave Treasury if Congress couldn't come to an agreement to raise the limit. The limit was raised, but speculation followed on whether or not Geithner would stick around.

The Treasury Department issued a statement Sunday saying, ""Secretary Geithner has let the President know that he plans to stay on in his position at Treasury. He looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country.""

The challenges are many. Economic growth is dithering, with fears of a double-dip recession manifesting more aggressively. Many economists say housing is already in a double-dip slump. The nation's GDP numbers are coming

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in below analysts' expectations, and unemployment remains extremely high by all measures.

On top of all that, U.S. stocks lost nearly a trillion dollars in value last week, with the Dow on Thursday experiencing its ""largest single-day plunge"":http://www.themreport.com/articles/dow-jones-disaster-rips-into-mortgage-giants-reits-2011-08-04 since Lehman Brothers collapsed. Late Friday, after the markets closed, ""Standard & Poor's downgraded"":http://dsnews.comarticles/us-downgrade-likely-to-impact-housing-fundamentals-2011-08-07 the long-term sovereign credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+.

Market observers say had Geithner decided to step down mid-term, it would have been another ill-timed disruption for an already volatile financial system. Members of the GOP, though, are ready to serve Geithner his walking papers.

S&P cited ""difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties"" and a ""perception of greater policymaking uncertainty"" as reasons that prompted the agency to lower the nation's credit rating.

Members of Congress immediately started finger-pointing, and Geithner became their target. It didn't help Geithner's case that in April he told several news outlets that there was no chance the U.S. rating would be downgraded, despite S&P's public warnings.

According to _The Hill_, an aide to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) confirmed that Boehner has renewed his call for President Obama to dismiss Geithner.

Sens. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) all chimed in over the weekend with statements urging the president to demand Geithner's immediate resignation.

President Obama, though, was the one who asked Geithner to remain on at Treasury. Geithner is expected to hold his post at least through the fall of next year.