Bailout program chief will leave post
WASHINGTON — Herb Allison, the head of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout program, said yesterday that he would resign, the latest in a series of departures from President Obama’s economic team.
Allison, who had served as head of the bailout program since April 2009, said in a letter to colleagues at the Treasury Department that they had accomplished a great deal and helped to stabilize the financial system.
The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the formal name for the program that began during President George W. Bush’s administration, has been widely criticized as a rescue for wealthy bankers who took extraordinary risks.
Allison will be succeeded by Tim Massad, who will become acting assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability. Before joining government, Massad had been a partner for 17 years at the New York City law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
Allison’s resignation is the latest departure from Obama’s economic team, which has been under fire from Republicans and many voters. Peter Orszag, Obama’s budget director, and Christina Romer, head of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, departed recently. The White House announced Tuesday that Lawrence H. Summers, the president’s top economist, would leave at the end of this year to return to teaching at Harvard.
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