Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images, file

Jack Lew testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 13.

The Senate has confirmed Jack Lew, a former budget director and chief of staff to the president, as the next secretary of the treasury.

The vote was 71 to 26.

Lew's critics said he failed to adequately explain why he received a hefty severance package when he voluntarily left his job as an executive vice president at New York University.

Lew left the school in 2006 to take a position at Citigroup Inc., a post that some said made him too cozy with big banks. 

But foes failed to muster enough opposition to prevent the wonky former Office of Management and Budget chief from ascending to the Treasury Department job -- one that sits at the center of debate over the nation's spending and debt.

By a vote of 19 to 5, the Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday to recommend Lew for a full Senate vote.

All five of the votes against him came from Republican committee members; six Republicans on the committee supported him.

Lew, a native of New York City, began his career in Washington in 1973 serving as a legislative aide. He went on to spend nine years as chief domestic policy adviser to House Speaker Tip O'Neill.

He most recently served as the president's chief of staff, a post he took in January 2012.

Lew accumulated minor Twitter fame for his cartoonishly illegible signature, which by law will appear on U.S. bills.

The president himself poked fun at Lew's penmanship upon making the nomination, saying that his pick had promised to make at least one letter of his signature legible "in order not to debase our currency."

This story was originally published on Wed Feb 27, 2013 6:09 PM EST

The Senate Finance Committee voted 19-5 on Tuesday to report Jack Lew's nomination as Treasury Secretary to the full Senate. 

Lew's nomination moved a step closer to final confirmation before the full Senate with the finance panel's approval, though a floor vote isn't scheduled yet.

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Five Republicans joined with all of the committee's Democrats in supporting Lew. Five Republicans opposed Lew.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, voted yes, but criticized the administration for being reluctant to answer questions about nominees. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, voted no, citing concerns about Lew's ties to Citigroup, which received federal bailout money.

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama announces his choice of White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew as the next Treasury Secretary in the East Room of the White House on January 10, 2013 in Washington, DC.

President Barack Obama nominated Jack Lew, his current chief of staff, to be the next Secretary of the Treasury Thursday, elevating his wonky former budget director to a position at the center of fights over the nation's deficit and spending. 

"Jack knows that every number on a page, every dollar we budget, every decision we make, has to be an expression of who we wish to be as a nation, our values," the president said at the White House announcement of Lew's nomination.

Related: Team Obama trips on cabinet shuffle

The president did not indicate who will replace Lew. The leading candidates for the next chief of staff are former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough. 

"I don't want to see him go, because it's working out really well for me to have him in the White House," Obama said of his departing chief. "But my loss will be the nation's gain."

Lew, known as a tough negotiator who clashed with House Republican aides during last year's debt ceiling negotiations, previously served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget under both Obama and former President Bill Clinton. 

Lew will replace outgoing secretary Tim Geithner, who took the post at the start of Obama's first term, when financial markets were still roiling from the 2008 meltdown. 

"I couldn't blame Tim when he told me he wasn't the right guy for the job," Obama joked. 

Praising Geithner for his handling of the economy throughout his four year tenure, Obama noted that he pleaded with Geithner to stay on despite his onetime desire to leave before the end of Obama's first term. 

"When the history books are written, Tim Geithner's going to go down as one of our finest Secretaries of the Treasury," Obama said to sustained applause from the audience at the White House. 

In remarks, Lew joked about his famously loopy signature, saying that he and Geithner share "a common challenge with penmanship." (The Treasury Secretary's signature appears on all paper currency.) 

Obama wryly responded that, while he considered rescinding Lew's nomination over his sloppy signature, the new pick had promised to work to make at least one letter legible so as to "not debase our currency." 

Critics have pointed out that Lew, who served as chief operating officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments in 2008 before coming to OMB, benefited from that unit's investments in anticipation of the housing market collapse.

That's likely to be discussed at his confirmation hearings, and Republicans like Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions have already voiced opposition to Lew's selection for the post. 

On Thursday, Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue described the new Treasury pick as an experienced veteran of fiscal debates. 

"Jack's been around for a long time," he said. "He's a tough dude." 

For more about Lew's background, click here to read NBC's coverage from yesterday. 

NBC's Bob Costantini contributed to this report.