WASHINGTON: The Senate Finance Committee has approved President Barack Obama's choice of Jacob Lew to be Treasury secretary.    

Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner, who completed a tumultuous four-year term in which he helped lead the administration's response to the financial crisis and recession.

Lew previously served as Obama's budget director and chief of staff. The committee approved Lew, 19-5.

The nomination now goes to the full Senate. The timing of a Senate vote is unclear.

In the hearing, the sharpest questions came from Republicans who pressed Lew about his tenure at Citigroup, where he was a top executive from 2006 until early 2009, a period covering the height of the financial crisis.

Lew was grilled about a nearly $1 million bonus he received while Citi was being bailed out by taxpayers.