 In order to mend its relationship with the US government, S&P asked its then-CEO to step down, a mere 18 days after the US was downgraded.S&P announced on August 23, 2011, that Deven Sharma would step down as a Chief of Standard & Poor's effective September 12, 2011, and would leave the company by end of the year.The downgrade was criticized by the U.S. Treasury Department, both Democratic and Republican Party political figures, and many business people and economists.