Jack Lew, President Barack Obama’s nominee for treasury secretary, was confirmed in a 71-26 Senate vote on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Lew is expected to lead deficit reduction talks with Congress and figure out how to reduce the country’s $16.6 trillion national debt, according to the report by Anna Yukhananov and Rachelle Younglai.
He also takes office as the Friday deadline for sequestration approaches, where the government is required to cut $85 billion from its fiscal year 2013 budget over the next seven months.
In the short term, the current continuing resolution funding most government operations expires March 27 and the government is expected to reach the debt ceiling May 19, according to Reuters.
