Senate confirms Mnuchin: The Senate on Monday evening confirmed Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary in a 53-47 vote.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Trump’s pick.
Democrats didn’t have the manpower to block Trump’s nominees, but made Mnuchin, a longtime Goldman Sachs executive, a top target of opposition early on. The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more on the late vote here: http://bit.ly/2lDGSeE
Mnuchin looks to Wall Street to fill Treasury positions: Mnuchin is reportedly looking to Wall Street and the Republican establishment to serve in senior leadership roles in the Treasury Department.
Politico reported Monday that senior Goldman Sachs banker Jim Donovan is being considered to serve as deputy Treasury secretary.
Justin Muzinich, a former Morgan Stanley banker now at Muzinich & Co., is also being looked at for a senior position, possibly undersecretary for domestic finance or counselor.
For the position of undersecretary for international affairs, economist David Malpass is expected to be nominated. Malpass previously served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and was chief economist at Bear Sterns during its collapse in 2008: http://bit.ly/2ldpxI8.
Battle over Trump nominees shifts to new target:
The fight over President Trump’s Cabinet is now moving to Andrew Puzder. Democrats think Puzder, Trump’s nominee to lead the Labor Department, represents their best chance to block a Cabinet pick.
The CEO of a fast food conglomerate that owns Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., Puzder has several vulnerabilities. He admitted to hiring a housekeeper who was an illegal immigrant, his wife once accused him of domestic violence — an accusation she has since retracted — and groups have attacked the way workers are treated at his restaurants.
{mosads}Democrats are promising to raise those issues and more at Puzder’s confirmation hearing on Thursday. The Hill’s Tim Devaney has more on the new fight here: http://bit.ly/2klbFwu
Schumer: Trump picking ‘most anti-working-class Cabinet’: Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted President Trump’s Cabinet nominees on Monday, arguing his picks will make it harder for working Americans.
“The president has shown his hand by selecting the most anti-working-class Cabinet that we have ever seen,” the Senate’s top Democrat said. “What President Trump has done on the campaign and said on the campaign and his inaugural address is almost the exact opposite of what he’s doing now.”
He added that Trump’s agenda is being carried about by a “bevy of billionaires and bankers and hard-right ideologues.” Schumer singled out three nominees. The Hill’s Jordain Carney has them here: http://bit.ly/2kqwim9.
Happy Monday and welcome to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
Tonight’s highlights include a push to exempt veterans from the hiring freeze, more Dem attacks on Trump’s cabinet and a bad outlook for the economy under Trump.
See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-staging.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.
On tap tomorrow
- Senate Banking Committee: Hearing to examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress, featuring Janet Yellen, 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2l2dbm5.
- House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions: Hearing entitled “Restoring Balance and Fairness to the National Labor Relations Board,” 10 a.m. http://bit.ly/2l23FQ3.
GOP chairman won’t request Trump’s tax returns from Treasury: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) on Monday said he would not request President Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury secretary, as a Democratic committee member had urged.
“My belief is that if Congress begins to use its powers to rummage around in the tax returns of a president, what prevents Congress from doing the same to average Americans,” Brady said. “Privacy and civil liberties are still important rights in this country, and [the] Ways and Means Committee is not going to start to weaken that.”
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) sent Brady a letter earlier this month asking him to take advantage of a provision in the federal tax code and request Trump’s tax returns from Treasury so that the Ways and Means Committee could review them in a closed session and consider whether they should be made public. Under federal tax law, the chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation can make such a request. The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda reports: http://bit.ly/2kqdDqi.
Trump: ‘We’ll be ‘tweaking’ NAFTA: President Trump struck a softer tone on trade Monday, saying his administration will be “tweaking” the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in a way that will be a boon for both the United States and Canada.
During a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Canadian reporter asked Trump if the country can expect big or small changes to the trade agreement and how it relates to Canada.
“We’ll be tweaking it,” Trump said at Monday’s press conference. “We’ll be doing certain things that are going to benefit both of our countries.”
“Our relationship with Canada is outstanding,” he added. The Hill’s Lisa Hagen has more on Trump’s remarks and what’s next. http://bit.ly/2ldJ8Z4
Treasury sanctions Venezuelan vice president for drug trafficking: The Trump administration imposed financial sanctions against Venezuela’s executive vice president on Monday after being investigated for years for money laundering and drug trafficking.
The Treasury Department targeted Vice President Tareck El Aissami and a business associate, it announced Monday, freezing their United States-based assets and blocking U.S. persons and business from conducting financial transactions with them.
El Aissami is the highest-ranking government official to be targeted by the Treasury Department as a drug kingpin. The vice president allegedly oversaw and expedited shipments of narcotics through a Venezuelan air base and ports. I’ve got the details here: http://bit.ly/2kqkn7N.
Trump agenda worse for U.S. economy than current policy: report: President Trump’s agenda could be worse than current policies for United States economic growth, according to two Goldman Sachs economists.
Analysts from the international investment bank say potential trade restrictions and immigration limits would hinder American economic growth, Bloomberg News reported.
Trump promised his agenda would grow the American economy by 4 to 6 percent of gross domestic product through tax reform, deregulation and renegotiating trade deals. Experts say the promise is unrealistic for an economy the size and age of the United States. I’ve got more here: http://bit.ly/2kqjLPH.
GOP rep urges Trump to prevent illegal immigrants from claiming tax credits: Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) is urging President Trump to take actions to prevent immigrants in the country illegally from claiming the child tax credit.
“Most Americans are astonished to learn that each year billions of taxpayer dollars are given out to people who are in our country illegally,” Messer said in a statement. “This is just one example of how our broken tax and immigration systems continue to incentivize immigrants to come here illegally. It’s long past time to change it.”
The request from Messer — a member of the House GOP leadership team who is eyeing a Senate run in 2018 — comes as Trump has made tax reform and curbing illegal immigration two of his top priorities. Naomi Jagoda reports: http://bit.ly/2ldpxI8.
Dem proposes exempting veterans from Trump’s hiring freeze: Legislation introduced in the House on Monday would exempt veterans seeking employment from the federal government hiring freeze imposed by President Trump in his first week in office.
Rep. Stephen Lynch’s (D-Mass.) bill would allow federal agencies to hire veterans for newly created positions and for vacant jobs.
“President Trump’s federal hiring freeze not only hurts everyday Americans seeking a prompt response from a federal agency, but also makes it difficult for veterans looking for employment in the federal government across the country. Veterans have earned their hiring preference and I am deeply concerned that the federal hiring freeze will disproportionately hurt America’s veterans,” Lynch said in a statement. The Hill’s Cristina Marcos has more: http://bit.ly/2kqgmQF.
Dems probe Trump adviser Icahn’s role in ethanol policy: Senate Democrats are investigating the role that President Trump’s adviser Carl Icahn is playing in setting the administration’s ethanol policy.
The Democrats are concerned that Icahn, a prolific investor whose holding company owns more than 80 percent of fuel refiner CVR Energy, is using his advisory role to steer ethanol policies in his favor.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and six of his colleagues wrote to White House counsel Don McGahn Monday, asking for details about Icahn’s interactions with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), how he influenced Trump’s decision to pick Scott Pruitt to lead the agency, and whether Icahn is recusing himself from some matters and more. The Hill’s Timothy Cama explains: http://bit.ly/2kq4wGs.
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