Every month, the government sends out about 5 million paper checks to Americans who receive federal benefits. As of March 1, however, the Treasury Department is planning to make those checks a thing of the past. It's encouraging holdouts to move to direct deposit or a debit card.

While some of the questions were pointed, Lew had an easier go of it than some recent nominees. Some of the toughest questioning centered around a nearly $1 million bonus he received from Citibank just as it got bailed out.

Jack Lew is known as a smart, unassuming budget wonk who has spent most of his career in government policy-making jobs. Lew, President Obama's nominee to be Treasury secretary, is expected to face questions about his management years at Citigroup before the government bailed out the banking giant.

Under the health care overhaul, many people who find their job-based health coverage too expensive can get help buying insurance through exchanges. But rules just finalized by the Internal Revenue Service will limit who is eligible for a subsidy and could leave some families shut out.

All but one of 69 top employees at three bailed-out companies had pay packages worth at least $1 million. The Treasury defended its approval, saying the report was riddled with errors.

Some GOP House members argue that if the debt limit isn't raised, the president would have to make choices about what bills get paid. But economists say prioritizing payments 鈥� even assuming it would be possible 鈥� isn't a great idea.

On Monday, President Obama repeated his call to Congress to raise the U.S. Treasury's borrowing limit.

With yet another impasse over the debt ceiling looming, the White House may be forced to mull some strange solutions, but it won't be a $1 trillion coin. Weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows of The Atlantic about the other options on table.

Timothy Geithner presided over Treasury at a particularly tumultuous time. The banking system was still in a crisis, and people were soon calling for his head. Naming his replacement four years later, President Obama said Geithner will be remembered "as one of our finest secretaries of the Treasury."

The president has nominated his chief of staff. Jack Lew is also a former budget director in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. He would replace Timothy Geithner, who plans to step down soon.