Treasury Secretary Is Seeking a Woman to Fill Deputy Post

U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who hasn’t had a deputy since February, is seeking a woman with financial-markets experience for the job, people familiar with the matter said.

Snow and President Bush want more diversity in the department as well as a person with Wall Street experience to complement Snow’s background as chief executive of railroad company CSX Corp., the people said. The search may take an additional three months, they said.

The department has never had a female secretary or deputy secretary.

“Treasury needs to get a little diversity both in hiring more women and having more financial market experience,” said Greg Valliere, chief strategist at Schwab Capital Markets in Washington, D.C.

Snow’s ousted predecessor, Paul O’Neill, also was a former executive at Alcoa Inc. Kenneth Dam, who served as O’Neill’s deputy for two years, announced his resignation Feb. 4, the day after Snow assumed control. The most senior women at the department are Treasurer Rosario Marin and Pam Olson, the assistant secretary for tax policy.

The Treasury Department’s No. 2 position is becoming more critical as Snow devotes more time to lobbying Congress for Bush’s proposed tax cuts and other tasks, such as helping in the reconstruction of Iraq, an analyst said.