U.S. Senate on Monday approved New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner to head the Treasury Department under President Barack Obama’s new administration despite much dissatisfaction over Geithner’s tax mistakes.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner, US President Barack Obama’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, listens to opening statements during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 21, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

At a Senate hearing held last week, Geithner apologized for what he called “careless mistakes” in failing to pay over 34,000 U.S. dollars in income taxes earlier in the decade, when he worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“I have paid what I owed,” Geithner said at the hearing. “I apologize to the committee for putting you in the position of having to spend so much time on these issues.”

Geithner paid back taxes and interest for 2003 and 2004 after an Internal Revenue Service audit. While he made the same tax error in 2001 and 2002, he did not pay back taxes for those years until after Obama expressed interest in nominating him.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet