John W Snow

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow has signaled to the White House that he is ready to resign once President Bush has picked a successor, administration officials and people close to Snow said Thursday. They said Snow had made clear he eventually intended to return to the private sector. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they said Snow was not ready to discuss his plans publicly. It's unclear when Snow is expected to offer his resignation.

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day trip to Wall Street, where he courted financial-industry backing for President Bush's plan to create private investment accounts with a portion of Social Security funds. In a series of meetings, Snow told executives of major stock brokerages and bond trading firms that the president's plan would put the retirement program on solid long-term footing.

When President Bush decided two months ago to step up his campaign for Social Security restructuring, he assembled his Cabinet. Everyone was expected to play a part, Bush said, but the principal pitch man would be Treasury Secretary John W. Snow. "You need to be the guy on the Hill.... You need to be the guy doing the private meetings.... You need to be the guy doing the media and traveling," Bush told Snow, according to one administration official's account of the session. And Snow has been.

Two U.S. senators said Thursday that they had agreed to delay a vote on a bill threatening China with steep tariffs after being convinced that China could revalue its currency soon. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters that they had struck a deal with Treasury Secretary John W. Snow to put their bill on hold until later this year, giving China more time to act on its own to revalue the yuan.

Facing growing pressure to take a harder line with China over trade, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow showed Tuesday that pushing the Chinese government to further loosen control over its currency would be a delicate task. Snow, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, said the U.S. was "anxious to see the Chinese fulfill the commitment they made to allow market forces to play a larger role in setting their currency's value over time.

President Bush on Wednesday asked Treasury Secretary John W. Snow to stay on the job during his second term, ending more than a week of rampant speculation and high-level leaks that suggested the White House was ready to sack him. Snow, 65, will continue to serve as the nation's chief financial officer and leader of the president's economic team, making him the point man for selling Bush's ambitious plans to restructure Social Security and revamp the U.S. tax code.

As opponents of the idea mobilized, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow predicted Thursday that Congress would approve President Bush's still-sketchy plan to let workers shift some of their Social Security payroll tax payments into private retirement accounts that they would invest, with what Snow said would be little risk to themselves.

Treasury Secretary-Designate John W. Snow agreed Wednesday to give up 32 directorships and sell more than $20 million worth of stocks, bonds and mutual funds to avoid potential conflicts as a member of President Bush's Cabinet. But he said he would hang on to his CSX Corp. pension and take lump-sum payments of $35 million to more than $100 million on various forms of deferred compensation he received from his former employer.

Lawmakers will get their chance to put U.S. Treasury nominee John W. Snow on the hot seat Tuesday as President Bush seeks to rebuild his economic team in preparation for a tax-cut battle. The wealthy rail executive is assured a courteous, but not placid, question-and-answer session before the Senate Finance Committee, which must confirm Bush's choice before he can take up his post. Snow, 63, chairman of freight transportation giant CSX Corp.

Treasury Secretary-designate John W. Snow expressed concern Tuesday about the long-term consequences of rising deficits but insisted that President Bush's tax cuts would not push the nation into the danger zone. During a four-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Snow parried questions about the economy, the dollar and his own compensation as a corporate chief executive.