United States president Barack Obama has chosen Jack Lew, a longtime Democratic party adviser and his chief of staff, to replace Tim Geithner as treasury secretary, according to people familiar with the situation.

Mr Geithner is expected to leave at the end of the month, with the administration hoping for a quick nomination so Mr Lew can handle imminent budget talks with the authority of his new office.

The White House declined to comment.

Mr Obama’s appointment of Mr Lew reflects not only the president’s trust in him, but also the bulging domestic in-tray greeting his second term.

Although he worked at Citibank in New York and at the state department in the top administrative position, Mr Lew’s experience is focused inside the Beltway, where he has been a mainstay as a Democratic aide and presidential appointee.

After a period as an aide to Tip O’Neill, the old-style Democratic politician who was speaker of the House of Representatives in the 1980s, Mr Lew led the White House’s budget office twice, under Bill Clinton and Mr Obama. He has been Mr Obama’s chief of staff for the past year.

– Copyright 2013 The Financial Times Limited