WASHINGTON — For five weeks, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has battled the worst economic crisis in generations with no key deputies in place. That’s made for a rocky debut for the man President Barack Obama put in charge of addressing the financial crisis.
With an awkward first television appearance, a bank rescue plan that lacked promised specifics and two restructured bailouts that raised taxpayer risk, Geithner has failed to calm financial markets desperate for answers.
Critics say part of the problem is that Geithner is flying solo: Not one of his top 17 deputies has been named, let alone confirmed.
And without senior leadership, lower-level Treasury employees can’t make decisions or represent the government in crucial conversations with banks and others.
As Geithner strives to address the financial crisis, advance Obama’s agenda and work with foreign leaders to stave off economic disaster, he’s assembled a 50-person “shadow cabinet” of would-be appointees.
Those people have received hall passes and can advise Geithner, but they lack any authority.
Treasury officials contend that Geithner is receiving plenty of good advice, much of it from the 50 advisers already working there.
But until Treasury gets some Senate-confirmed leaders, these people can’t sign documents or make policy decisions. They can’t even sit in their future offices.
Among the harshest critics of Treasury’s leadership vacuum is Paul Volcker, an Obama economic adviser and former Federal Reserve chairman who last week called the situation “shameful.”
