WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama nominated Jacob Lew, his chief of staff and an Orthodox Jew, to be secretary of the Treasury Department.
Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner if he is confirmed by the Senate.
"As the son of a Polish immigrant, a man of deep and devout faith, Jack knows that every number on a page, every dollar we budget, every decision we make has to be an expression of who we wish to be as a nation, our values," Obama said Thursday at the White House flanked by Lew and Geithner.
Lew, a chief of the Office of Management and Budget under both Obama and President Bill Clinton, has spoken often about balancing his observance with the demands of the highest precincts of government.
