Geithner: Obama won’t ask me to stay in next term

WASHINGTON (AP) — Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect to serve a second term as Treasury secretary. He said he doesn’t think President Barack Obama would ask him to remain if Obama won re-election.

“He’s not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident,” Geithner said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “I’m also confident he’s going to have the privilege of having another Treasury secretary.”

Geithner is the only remaining top official on Obama’s original economics team. He had considered leaving in August after the congressional battle over raising the debt was resolved. Obama asked him to reconsider and remain in the Cabinet, and Geithner did.

Geithner helped lead the administration’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. He has been a frequent target of criticism during his three years at Treasury. Some have accused him of siding too closely with Wall Street in the government bailout of the financial system. Republicans have said he did little to help the economy recover from the financial crisis and recession.

But he also received praise for his leadership in getting a sweeping financial overhaul through Congress and in the efforts he made to stabilize the financial system.

In the interview, Geithner offered no hints of what he might do after leaving the administration.

“I’m very fortunate,” he said. “I work with tremendously talented people, and this is one of the most important times in modern history to be in the world of economic policy and finance. And I work for a great president, who I believe in.”

It’s typical for Cabinet secretaries to leave after one presidential term.

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