GOP Leaders Call for Geithner, Summers Resignations

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday blasted the Obama adminstration’s economic policies, calling for the firing of both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Director of the White House National Economic Council Larry Summers. “Obama should ask for — and accept — the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council,” he remarked during a speech at the City Club of Cleveland. GOP leaders are ramping up their criticism of the Obama administration ahead of midterm elections later this year, as they look to blame Democrats for continued high unemployment and the specter of a double-dip recession. “The American people are asking ‘where are the jobs?’ and all the president’s economic team has to offer are promises of ‘green shoots’ that never seem to grow,” Boehner said. Other Republicans were quick to line up behind Boehner, including chairman of the House Republican Conference Mike Pence (R-Indiana), who released a statement late yesterday that said the “economic policies of this administration have failed and President Obama needs a new economic team.” “It is time to start over with a new economic team that listens to the concerns of the American people and puts pro-growth policies in place that will get the American people back to work and the economy moving again,” Pence said. Democrats were quick to characterize Boehner’s remarks as unproductive complaining. “[Boehner’s] chief proposal, when you look at it, apparently was that the president should fire his economic team,” Vice President Joe Biden quipped in a speech Tuesday afternoon. “Very constructive advice and we thank the leader for that.” The White House has been on the receiving end of increasing criticism for an economy that has proven to be far weaker than anticipated after the financial crises of 2007 and 2008. Later this week, the Commerce Department will release revised GDP figures largely expected to show that the economy grew at a far slower pace than originally expected. Next week, a monthly jobs report is expected to show additional job losses, and administration officials are bracing for further criticism as a result. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer continued to press the issue of economic health on the White House blog Tuesday afternoon, dismissing Boehner’s remarks and characterizing Republican economic plans as the reason the U.S. economy faces its current challenges. “While the rhetoric today may be new, the ideas remain the same: out-of-control deficits, decreased oversight of the big Wall Street banks that helped create the financial crisis and putting special interests first by maintaining tax loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas,” he argued. The Obama administration has already seen some turnover among its economic team. Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, resigned earlier this month, following Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag in July. Paul Jackson is the publisher of HousingWire.com and HousingWire Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @pjackson