WASHINGTON – The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin’s nomination on Thursday, Jan 19.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he was tapping his campaign finance chair for the Treasury role in late November and Democrats have waged a campaign against the former Goldman Sachs banker and financier ever since.
In banking circles, Mnuchin is perhaps most known for putting together an investment group that purchased the assets of the failed mortgage lender IndyMac and forming OneWest bank, which garnered a reputation for aggressively foreclosing on borrowers. OneWest was later sold to CIT where Mnuchin was a vice chairman and director before stepping down in December.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter along with 24 other Democrats on Friday requesting that Senate Finance Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, allow outside witnesses to testify against Mnuchin during his nomination hearing.
"Mr. Mnuchin led the bank OneWest for six years in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, during which time the bank foreclosed on thousands of families and threw them out of their homes," wrote the senators. "Before deciding whether Mr. Mnuchin should serve as the country's top economic official, the committee should hear from some of these families and other Americans who have had first-hand experience with Mr. Mnuchin or the businesses he has led."
While Mnuchin’s hearing will likely be contentious, it will be difficult for Democrats to stop his confirmation as he will only need a majority to be confirmed.
