Friday, December 16, 2016
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are eyeing the Senate confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's Treasury secretary pick selection as a prime opportunity to chip away at the Republican's populist appeal with working-class voters and begin rebuilding their own party's economic message.
Given the narrow GOP majority in the Senate, Steven Mnuchin is likely to be confirmed. But Democrats plan to rough him up along the way, grilling the former Goldman Sachs executive over his Wall Street ties and his stake in a bank that profited from the foreclosure crisis. Several people who lost their homes are seeking to testify in the upcoming confirmation hearings.
Some Republicans are privately questioning Mnuchin's readiness to face aggressive questioning by senators. He has no government background, and his media appearances immediately after being picked raised alarms about his political inexperience. Some of the president-elect's advisers were caught off guard by the bold promises Mnuchin made to reporters after the official announcement, including pledging the largest tax cut since President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and up to 4 percent economic growth.
As of today, Mnuchin, a multimillionaire, had not yet turned in vetting materials to the senators who will be initially weighing his nomination, including three years of tax returns and other financial information.