Illegal Hire, Tax Issues May Trouble Geithner

Timothy Geithner’s Treasury secretary nomination could be threatened by allegations he hired illegal help and didn’t pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while self-employed, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Senate Finance Committee members are meeting privately to discuss the issues, raised by GOP Sen. Charles Grassley. Aides to President-elect Obama insist the infractions are minor.

The housekeeper in question continued working for Geithner after her papers expired, but later obtained a green card. As for the taxes, Geithner paid them off when alerted by the IRS about the mistake. While no charges were filed in either case, such hurdles have been enough to keep past nominees from being confirmed; Geithner’s confirmation hearings begin Thursday. (More Barack Obama stories.)