[link to abcnews.go.com]


The possible departure of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner once an agreement is reached with Congress to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling would signal the end of an era: Geithner is the last member of President Obama's original economic team still with the administration.

Other prominent members such as National Economic Council director Larry Summers, Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer and Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag have left the White House long before this summer. Even Austan Goolsbee, who succeeded Romer as CEA boss, has announced that he will be heading back to the University of Chicago this fall to resume his teaching job there.

While sources told ABC News' Jake Tapper that Geithner is contemplating leaving his post after the deficit negotiations have been completed, they cautioned that it's too early and there are far too many caveats to say that will definitely happen.

If Geithner does depart, it would mark the final step in the changing of the administration's economic guard. Whenever he decides to leave, the fact that Geithner has lasted longer than any other members of the original team is no small feat, especially considering the dire economic situation he inherited in early 2009 and the backlash he faced shortly thereafter.