Axelrod: Geithner Leak ‘Response Has Been Great’

The Obama team leaked word that Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is the president-elect’s choice for Treasury Secretary, sparking a 500-point rally on Wall Street on Friday.

Today on "This Week," incoming White House senior adviser David Axelrod said the Obama team was pleased with the response.

"The response has been great, and it should be," Axelrod said, "Tim Geithner is uniquely qualified to do this job…and he’s someone who, by both temperament and experience, is well suited for the times we’re in. And we were gratified by the reaction to news of his pending appointment."

Asked about  Geithner’s role in the decision to allow Lehman Brothers to fail, Axelrod said," We’re in unchartered waters. And I’m not going to re-litigate every decision that has been, that’s been made in these — under these unique circumstances," he said.

"Tim Geithner was an early warning system in terms of the need for greater regulation, and has been ahead of the curve on a lot of these issues. And again, when you look at the history of what he’s done over time, he is the sort of person you want when you’re facing the kind of economic crisis we have today," Axelrod said.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who today refuted a report in The American Spectator Magazine that he privately suggested that neither Geithner nor Larry Summers were fit for the job, called Geithner a "great choice." 

"I think either would be a great choice," Schumer told me on "This Week." "Tim Geithner’s a great choice.  I was glad to read, this morning, that Larry Summers may well become part of the administration as well… These are brilliant people, two of the best.  When you have an economic problem or issue, you call them; you get incisive answers."

Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said the pick is overall a good appointment.

"He’s young.  He’s innovative.  I believe he will be up to the challenge," Shelby said.

"He knows a lot about the economy and he knows a lot about problems. He has been involved in the bailout — I don’t think it’s worked perfectly — working with Secretary Paulson, but he is a breath of fresh air."

–George Stephanopoulos