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thisfinecrewHearing to Consider the Anticipated Nomination of Steven Terner Mnuchin to be Secretary of the Treasury
When: Thursday 19 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 17 Jan) Chairman: Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R - UT), Senator Chuck Grassley (R – IA), Senator Mike Crapo (R - ID), Senator Pat Roberts (R – KS), Senator Michael B. Enzi (R – WY), Senator John Cornyn (R – TX), Senator John Thune (R – SD), Senator Richard Burr (R - NC), Senator Johnny Isakson (R - GA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R - PA), Senator Dean Heller (R - NV), Senator Tim Scott (R – SC), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Ranking Member: Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Bill Nelson (D – FL), Senator Robert Menendez (D - NJ), Senator Thomas R. Carper (D – DE), Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D – MD), Senator Sherrod Brown (D – OH), Senator Michael F. Bennet (D – CO), Senator Robert P. Casey (D - PA), Senator Mark R.Warner (D – VA), Senator Claire McCaskill (D - MO)
What the committee should be concerned about: Steven Mnuchin (pronounced Mi-NEW-chin) was the national finance chairman for Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has never held public office but has a background in finance. The son of a Goldman Sachs partner, he joined the firm after graduating from Yale and worked his way up to partner. He then created his own hedge fund, before moving to the West Coast and leading the buyout, turnaround and sale of IndyMac, a bankrupt government-owned housing lender that was renamed OneWest Bank. More recently, he became a movie producer and financier for blockbuster movies like the X-Men franchise. His net worth is reported as at least $166 million and he reported more than $50 million in income last year from his business activities. He will be the third former Goldman Sachs employee to serve as Treasury secretary.
Mr Mnuchin was heavily involved in developing Trump's tax plans, which are focused on delivering significant tax cuts but may also contribute to much larger deficits.
His ethics statement filed with the Office of Government Ethics outlines plans to divest himself of his financial interests in 43 companies, hedge funds and investment funds and resign from numerous board positions, but he will retain his “unpaid position” as president of Steven T. Mnuchin Inc., a company he said is used to manage some of his investments. The statement is extremely unclear as to what investments or activities the company is involved in. Norman L. Eisen, a former special counsel for ethics and government reform under President Obama, said Mnuchin's continued involvement in the company “raises some obvious ethics concerns” that should be discussed at his hearing.
Mr Mnuchin has also been criticised for the behaviour of OneWest during his time in charge. The company faced allegations that it had foreclosed improperly on some borrowers. Fair-housing groups also filed a complaint with the federal government, claiming that OneWest was not meeting its legal obligation to make loans in minority neighborhoods. Jon Green, a spokesman for the Take on Wall Street campaign, said in a statement: “He purchased a bailed-out bank for pennies on the dollar and then aggressively foreclosed on tens of thousands of families. Anyone concerned about Wall Street billionaires rigging the economy should be terrified by the prospect of a Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.”
In addition, Mr Mnuchin's nomination appears to walk back the regular attacks Trump made on the finance industry during his campaign, including a campaign ad intended as a closing argument that portrayed the chief executive of Goldman Sachs as the personification of a global elite that the ad said had “robbed our working class.”
During an interview, Mr Mnuchin said his priorities would be a tax plan that would lower corporate taxes and cut middle-income tax, and to implement Trump's childcare programme. Through the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Treasury Secretary also has responsibility for sanctions, and is able to add or roll back back sanctions, including those related to Cuba, Iran and Russia.
Suggested script for calling representatives:Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Stephen Mnuchin as the next Secretary of the Treasury. As a former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager, he is a bad choice for those concerned about Wall Street billionaires controlling the economy. This is particularly true in Mr Mnuchin's case, as the ethics statement he filed with the Office of Government Ethics and the behaviour of OneWest Bank during his tenure there raise serious questions about his ethics and integrity. Mr Mnuchin's background and past questionable activities make him unsuited to taking a leading role in setting economic policy for our country and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Treasury.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
When: Thursday 19 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 17 Jan) Chairman: Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R - UT), Senator Chuck Grassley (R – IA), Senator Mike Crapo (R - ID), Senator Pat Roberts (R – KS), Senator Michael B. Enzi (R – WY), Senator John Cornyn (R – TX), Senator John Thune (R – SD), Senator Richard Burr (R - NC), Senator Johnny Isakson (R - GA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R - PA), Senator Dean Heller (R - NV), Senator Tim Scott (R – SC), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Ranking Member: Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Bill Nelson (D – FL), Senator Robert Menendez (D - NJ), Senator Thomas R. Carper (D – DE), Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D – MD), Senator Sherrod Brown (D – OH), Senator Michael F. Bennet (D – CO), Senator Robert P. Casey (D - PA), Senator Mark R.Warner (D – VA), Senator Claire McCaskill (D - MO)
What the committee should be concerned about: Steven Mnuchin (pronounced Mi-NEW-chin) was the national finance chairman for Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has never held public office but has a background in finance. The son of a Goldman Sachs partner, he joined the firm after graduating from Yale and worked his way up to partner. He then created his own hedge fund, before moving to the West Coast and leading the buyout, turnaround and sale of IndyMac, a bankrupt government-owned housing lender that was renamed OneWest Bank. More recently, he became a movie producer and financier for blockbuster movies like the X-Men franchise. His net worth is reported as at least $166 million and he reported more than $50 million in income last year from his business activities. He will be the third former Goldman Sachs employee to serve as Treasury secretary.
Mr Mnuchin was heavily involved in developing Trump's tax plans, which are focused on delivering significant tax cuts but may also contribute to much larger deficits.
His ethics statement filed with the Office of Government Ethics outlines plans to divest himself of his financial interests in 43 companies, hedge funds and investment funds and resign from numerous board positions, but he will retain his “unpaid position” as president of Steven T. Mnuchin Inc., a company he said is used to manage some of his investments. The statement is extremely unclear as to what investments or activities the company is involved in. Norman L. Eisen, a former special counsel for ethics and government reform under President Obama, said Mnuchin's continued involvement in the company “raises some obvious ethics concerns” that should be discussed at his hearing.
Mr Mnuchin has also been criticised for the behaviour of OneWest during his time in charge. The company faced allegations that it had foreclosed improperly on some borrowers. Fair-housing groups also filed a complaint with the federal government, claiming that OneWest was not meeting its legal obligation to make loans in minority neighborhoods. Jon Green, a spokesman for the Take on Wall Street campaign, said in a statement: “He purchased a bailed-out bank for pennies on the dollar and then aggressively foreclosed on tens of thousands of families. Anyone concerned about Wall Street billionaires rigging the economy should be terrified by the prospect of a Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.”
In addition, Mr Mnuchin's nomination appears to walk back the regular attacks Trump made on the finance industry during his campaign, including a campaign ad intended as a closing argument that portrayed the chief executive of Goldman Sachs as the personification of a global elite that the ad said had “robbed our working class.”
During an interview, Mr Mnuchin said his priorities would be a tax plan that would lower corporate taxes and cut middle-income tax, and to implement Trump's childcare programme. Through the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Treasury Secretary also has responsibility for sanctions, and is able to add or roll back back sanctions, including those related to Cuba, Iran and Russia.
Suggested script for calling representatives:Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Stephen Mnuchin as the next Secretary of the Treasury. As a former Goldman Sachs partner and hedge fund manager, he is a bad choice for those concerned about Wall Street billionaires controlling the economy. This is particularly true in Mr Mnuchin's case, as the ethics statement he filed with the Office of Government Ethics and the behaviour of OneWest Bank during his tenure there raise serious questions about his ethics and integrity. Mr Mnuchin's background and past questionable activities make him unsuited to taking a leading role in setting economic policy for our country and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Treasury.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
