As the White House's budget director, Lew has received praise for working with Republicans, even from one of Obama's harshest critics. "No one was more prepared and more in tune with the numbers than Jack Lew," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in a 2010 Politico profile during the height of the debt ceiling fight last summer. "He was always very polite and respectful in his tone and someone who I can tell is very committed to his principles.'"