No decisions made on who will replace Summers

Gibbs wouldn’t speculate on possibilities but several names are swirling, including a core group of women — Anne Mulcahy, former chief executive of Xerox Corp.; Diana Farrell, deputy director of the National Economic Council; Laura Tyson, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who served in the Clinton administration as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Ann Fudge, a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, former chairman and chief executive of Young & Rubicam Brands. She also held senior positions at General Mills and Kraft.

“You know, look, there are names that are out there that people are looking at, that people aren’t looking at,” Gibbs said. “We have three months to play the name game.” 

When asked if business experience is a necessary ingredient in the right candidate, Gibbs said the search is broader than that. 

“I think there’s a whole host of things,” he said. “Certainly that is — that could be part of it.”

“I think there are a lot of things that the president will be looking for — not just background.”