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  • January 10, 2013, 11:49 AM

Sen. Hatch Wants Lew’s Plan on Deficit Reduction

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By Damian Paletta and Janet Hook

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is expected to press President Barack Obama‘s new nominee for Treasury secretary to offer more details of the administration’s plan to reduce the deficit.

The nominee, current White House chief of staff Jacob Lew, will have to be scrutinized before Mr. Hatch’s panel before he can win Senate confirmation and succeed current Treasury chief Timothy Geithner. Mr. Lew is expected to win confirmation, but lawmakers will get to push him for answers on a number of topics during at least one confirmation hearing.

“It’s imperative that Mr. Lew outline the Administration’s plans on tackling our unsustainable debt, what areas of federal spending should be cut, and what kind of reforms–from our tax code to our entitlement programs–are needed to get our fiscal house in order,” Mr. Hatch said in a statement. “Since Mr. Lew participated in numerous budget negotiations with Congress and with four consecutive years of over $1 trillion deficits, the American people deserve to know not only that this nominee is qualified for the job, but also what policies the White House supports to get federal spending under control.”

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      • 5:09 pm January 10, 2013
      • Anonymous wrote :

      hahaha. while you’re at it, get the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 budget.

      • 5:06 pm January 10, 2013
      • indy wrote :

      In June 2006, Lew was named chief operating officer of Citigroup’s Alternative Investments unit, a proprietary trading group. The unit he oversaw invested in a hedge fund “that bet on the housing market to collapse.” wiki. So he left an NYU evp operations job to go to Citi for a 2 year stint (2006-2008) to run a hedge fund against the housing market. Interesting transition and uncanny timing. Hatch should check his connection at Citi, what he was paid for his trouble and why shorting the housing market was a good bet.

      • 4:09 pm January 10, 2013
      • Tim wrote :

      The man is expert on the budget. He should be pressed on specific reductions, excess staffing, and plans to deal with partial government shutdowns. Mr. Hatch has exactly the right agenda.

      • 2:31 pm January 10, 2013
      • Great question from Mr Hatch wrote :

      Not that it will be answered…..which is hallmark of this administration…but when and if it is…..if it follows suit, it is likely to be a tangled web of lies.

      • 2:29 pm January 10, 2013
      • Deficit plan from Lew? wrote :

      LMAO LMAO

      Howz about his spendathon plan?

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