Top House Dem urges Senate to oppose Trump Treasury pick

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is calling on the Senate to reject Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary pick.

Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) said Mnuchin’s history leading California-based OneWest Bank disqualifies him from being Treasury secretary, citing more than 36,000 foreclosures he oversaw as the bank’s chairman and CEO.

Waters is the first House lawmaker to publicly oppose Mnuchin, though only senators vote on nominations.

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Waters cited a leaked 2013 memo from the California attorney general’s office, first published by The Intercept, that recommended criminal charges for violating state foreclosure laws. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), then the state’s attorney general, declined to prosecute Mnuchin.

Waters said “it shocks the conscience” that Trump “would give the keys to the Treasury to a man whose bank engaged in massive fraud and profited off the backs of Americans that his company threw out on the street.”

“One West’s predatory actions, reckless disregard for the law, and mistreatment of America’s homeowners while under Mnuchin’s leadership clearly disqualifies him from serving as our nation’s Treasury Secretary.” said Waters. “I urge my colleagues in the Senate to reject his nomination.”

Senate Democrats have railed against Mnuchin for his record at OneWest, dubbing him the “foreclosure king” and calling on Americans whose homes were foreclosed on by the bank to share their stories.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, sent Mncuhin a list of pointed questions about his career, several of which asked him to explain why Americans should trust him after his career at OneWest and Goldman Sachs.

Tara Bradshaw, a spokesperson for Mnuchin, has defended his record at the bank.

“Mnuchin got over 100,000 homeowners loan modifications and reduced thousands of loan balances,” she said. “OneWest is an American success story, and Steven looks forward to telling it at his hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.”