WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama's treasury secretary nominee got a $685,000 payment when he left New York University to join Citigroup Inc., NYU told The New York Times.
News of the payment, on top of other reported payments and alleged sweetheart deals Lew received in the private sector before joining Washington, came as the former White House chief of staff was expected to be considered and voted on Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee to succeed Timothy Geithner in Obama's second-term Cabinet.
A panel approval would pave the way for a full Senate vote.
Lew, 57, got the hefty severance payment when he left NYU in 2006 after five years to become chief operating officer of two Citigroup units, the Times reported on its website Monday night.
The payment is considered unusual by outside experts and raises questions about why a tax-exempt university would give a large exit bonus to an executive leaving voluntarily, the newspaper said.
Such payments more often go to executives of long standing who are ushered out.
University officials who acknowledged the lump-sum payment Monday defended it, telling the Times Lew addressed major university problems at the time.
The payment was not disclosed in the university's publicly available tax records.
It is being scrutinized by Senate Republicans as they consider Lew's nomination, the Times said.
Lew also got about $1.5 million in mortgages from NYU -- and the university forgave $440,000 of it over time, the Times said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Finance Committee's ranking Republican, said Monday, before the Times report, he expected Lew would get GOP support to be treasury secretary if he easily cleared the panel.
It was not immediately clear if Hatch was one of the Republicans scrutinizing the $685,000 payment.
"If he comes out of committee, I don't see any reason why anybody would want to continue to put it off," the Utah Republican told The Hill Monday.
"I can't speak for all my colleagues," Hatch added. "All I can say is, we'll see what happens in committee."
The Senate is expected to vote on Lew's nomination this week, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday.
During Lew's confirmation hearing Feb. 13, GOP senators questioned his lucrative tenure at Citigroup Inc.
Lew was chief operating officer of two Citigroup investment units from 2006 to 2008, when the banking giant took a taxpayer-funded bailout to survive the financial crisis, but not directly involved in the corporation's investment or risk strategy.
Citigroup has since paid Washington back for its bailout loans, including interest on the taxpayer money.
Hatch questioned Lew during the confirmation hearing about the terms of his Citigroup contract. He specifically challenged whether the contract violated Obama's efforts to "close the revolving door," referring to the practice of government officials moving between roles as legislators or overseers and jobs at industries affected by legislation or oversight.
Under Lew's contract's terms, he kept certain bonus compensation if he left for a "high level position with the United States government or regulatory body," but would not if he went to a private-sector competitor, people with knowledge of the contract told the Times.
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