The Senate Finance Committee voted 19-5 to approve Jack Lew’s nomination to be Treasury Secretary Tuesday, setting up a Senate floor vote in the next few days. Sen. Grassley (R-IA) was among the five Republicans Senators who opposed the president’s nominee, citing Mr. Lew’s years at Citigroup as the reason.
With a few days to go before automatic budget cuts known as sequestration kick in, the committee also looked at the nation’s fiscal problems. Senators heard advice from former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who zeroed in on entitlement spending as the key driver of spending. A more gradual, phased-in approach to cuts was recommended by Robert Greenstein, the head of the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities.