Snowballing frustration about the economy burst into a political fracas overnight, with several lawmakers calling on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign over angst about unemployment and Wall Street bailouts.

The criticism came largely from House Republicans, who have long been critics of the Treasury secretary. Mr Geithner's job status doesn't appear to be in serious jeopardy and several Democrats at a congressional hearing leapt to his defense.

But joining the anti-Geithner chorus in increasing numbers are more liberal Democrats who say the White House's economic policies haven't done enough to boost job growth. The degree of venom aimed at Mr Geithner is also unusual, as was his willingness to fire back.

During a Joint Economic Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Representative Kevin Brady (Republican, Texas) told Mr Geithner "the public has lost all confidence in your ability to do the job."

Mr Geithner traded barbs with the Republicans, occasionally raising his voice to the point of shouting. "What I can't take responsibility is for the legacy of crises you've bequeathed this country," he told Mr Brady.

Representative Peter DeFazio (Democrat, Oregon) a vocal liberal who called on Mr Geithner to resign this week, said in an interview that the Treasury secretary's policies are too closely geared to Wall Street. "Quite frankly, all the gambling on Wall Street is doing nothing to put people back to work in America and rebuild our economy," he said.

The tension comes amid a growing unease from Democrats as they approach the 2010 mid-term elections with the unemployment rate at 10.2 per cent. Several Capitol Hill aides said support for Mr Geithner has frayed, but noted he makes an easy target for critics because he is considered the face of White House economic policy.

Overshadowing third-quarter economic growth of 3.5 per cent are fears about the weak state of the job and housing markets. Rank-and-file lawmakers have come under increasing pressure at home to address the shaky economy, said several Democratic leadership aides.

House Democratic leaders have vowed to take up job-creating legislation in December.

Mr Geithner has played a lead role in the White House's response to the economic crisis and tried to steer a middle ground, resisting pressure from liberal Democrats to overtly punish Wall Street executives while also fending off Republicans who have slammed the White House's stimulus package.

One issue that has dogged Mr Geithner is criticism of his record at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he was president before joining the administration. The New York Fed oversees the country's largest bank holding companies and is supposed to police Wall Street behavior

The topic was reignited this week. A government report charged that the New York Fed caved into demands from big banks, including Goldman Sachs Group, when it paid them in full for risky deals they had made with bailed-out insurer American International Group. Critics say the government should have forced the banks to accept less.

Mr Geithner defended the decision, saying the government lacked the powers it needed to handle the collapse of a company like AIG.

"Coming into AIG we had, basically, duct tape and string," he said.

Mr Geithner's tenure as Treasury secretary has been occasionally rocky. He faced criticism before he was confirmed by the Senate because of questions over his income taxes and his role in the government's response to the financial crisis.

His political capital improved in the northern spring when stress tests he ordered on the country's largest banks helped rebuild confidence in the banking system. At the same time, the Treasury has struggled to get Congress to line up behind its plan to revamp financial regulation, a top administration priority.

Criticism at the hearing was voluminous. Representative Michael Burgess (Republican, Texas) said the White House should "provide some tax relief and then get the heck out of the way" for the US economy to recover

Mr Geithner immediately countered: "That broad philosophy helped produce the worst financial crisis and the worst recession we'd seen in generations."

When asked why the Obama administration wouldn't wind down the Troubled Asset Relief Program by the end of the year, Mr Geithner said officials were "working to put the TARP out of its misery." The program officially expires on December 31, although the Treasury is widely expected to extend its life.

Some Democrats at the hearing rushed to support Mr Geithner.

"It just amazes me how there are some people here who are trying to pretend, and I think consciously and intentionally pretending, that the economic circumstances that we're confronting, all of them, mysteriously materialized over the course of the last nine months or so, which is totally, completely false," said Representative Maurice Hinchey (Democrat, NewYork).

Mr Geithner told the panel the government's steps were "absolutely necessary to break the back of this financial panic" and without the steps "you would have an economy still falling, not growing."


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