Domenici to introduce nominee for Treasury secretary

WASHINGTON – When Jack Lew appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. Treasury secretary, he’ll have a heavyweight federal budget expert in his corner: former Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico.

Domenici, a Republican who retired in 2008 after 36 years in the Senate, will formally introduce Lew, a Democrat, to the committee before the Senate questioning begins. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will also help introduce Lew, who is a native New Yorker.

Lew, who recently served as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, is an old friend and colleague of Domenici’s. The two worked closely together when Lew was director of the Office of Management and Budget under former President Bill Clinton and Domenici was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

In 1999, Domenici and Lew helped broker a major, bipartisan federal budget bill that was accepted by both chambers of Congress and the White House. Such bipartisan fiscal deals have become difficult to achieve in Washington’s current political climate.

Lew is widely expected to be confirmed, although there are likely to be some questions about his commitment to reducing the debt, as well as a $1 million bonus he was paid during his brief tenure as a Citigroup executive.

In a brief telephone interview, Domenici said he was honored to be asked to introduce Lew and is confident he will do a good job.

“He knows a lot, and what he doesn’t know he’ll learn very fast,” Domenici said.
— This article appeared on page C7 of the Albuquerque Journal