Hans Nichols at Bloomberg has the scoop:

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has signaled to White House officials that he’s considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Geithner hasn’t made a final decision and won’t do so until the debt ceiling issue has been resolved, according to one of the people. All spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private discussions [...]

Geithner, 49, has told associates that he needs a break from government service after dealing with the turmoil that followed the collapse of Wall Street firms including Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., first as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then as Obama’s treasury secretary.

Family considerations also are playing a role in Geithner’s deliberations, according to the people. His son has decided to finish his final year of high school in New York.

Yes, it’s always family considerations, isn’t it? I’m sure Geithner wants to leave to spend more time explaining why deep, immediate spending cuts would boost the economy to his family.

Nichols broke the story that Larry Summers was leaving the White House, so I’d judge this as credible. The important factor here is “after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit.” Geithner has been the leading force in the economic team behind deficit reduction as an end in itself, the idea that the confidence fairy will lead the country to greatness if everyone just agrees to cut government benefits and services.

Of course, that’s a chimera. I’d gather that nobody really wants to be around to see how that all shakes out. Least of all, Geithner. In some flicker of his brain he must recognize the consequences of austerity. I assume that’s why he doesn’t want to be in office when they take effect.

Geithner’s departure would represent a full turnover of the Obama economic team that came into office in January 2009. It’s too soon to speculate on a replacement, but consider this. A lot of people focus their ire on Geithner and Summers, as if they just magically popped up in the most critical positions on the economy to give an otherwise Keynesian liberal socialist President bad advice. When both of them are gone, I hope we get around to reassessing that.

One other note. Maybe this is why Geithner read out the 14th Amendment to journalists last month. Seems like a classic short-timer move.