Secretary of the Treasury

Geithner was expected to stay through negotiations on the fiscal cliff, which ended at the start of the year. He is now due to leave at the end of January. This timeframe gives the White House a small window to name a successor before negotiations heat up on federal spending cuts and the debt ceiling.

Geithner's confirmation in 2009 took nearly a month and his successor could face equally tough going. The tax fight over the fiscal cliff was politically bruising and Republicans have long criticized the Obama administration's handling of the economy, especially on the shaky housing market and unemployment. Stimulus spending, corporate bailouts and Wall Street regulation are also sore points with conservative Republicans.