washington<u+2014>former massachusetts gov. mitt romney <u+201c>is under active and serious consideration<u+201d> to be donald trump <u+2019>s secretary of state, vice president-elect mike pence said sunday, a move that would moderate the direction of the president-elect<u+2019>s national security team inside a rapidly expanding administration. mr. trump<u+2019>s remaining high-profile selections include the economic team that will join him at the white house. he continues to press for j.p. morgan chase & co. chief executive james dimon to be the next treasury secretary, said people familiar with the conversations. but the choice may well come down to investment banker steven mnuchin or texas rep. jeb hensarling, they said. those choices likely won<u+2019>t be announced until after thanksgiving, said reince priebus, the former republican national committee chairman whom mr. trump tapped to become his chief of staff. capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for trump transition news. the trump team also is readying to make changes to the affordable care act early in the new year, and overhaul tax laws before next year<u+2019>s end. mr. pence, a former congressman who visited capitol hill last week, was seeking a tax deal with democrats that would use repatriated corporate tax dollars to pay for infrastructure spending, in return for their support of a major tax cut, said one person familiar with the planning. <u+201c>we intend to move quickly, not waste a lot of time, and work well with our colleagues in congress and get this stuff rolling fast,<u+201d> mr. priebus said in an interview. the personnel decisions in the coming weeks will signal how the new york businessman<u+2014>the first elected president without government or military experience<u+2014>will lead the nation. his first few appointments suggested a hardline approach, while future announcements could send a more nuanced message. mr. romney actively opposed mr. trump<u+2019>s candidacy and has called russia<u+2014>a country that the next president is eager to repair relations with<u+2014>the top geopolitical threat to america. retired army lt. gen. michael flynn, mr. trump<u+2019>s pick for national security adviser, has urged a closer relationship with russian president vladimir putin. yet mr. romney, the 2012 republican presidential nominee, accepted an invitation to mr. trump<u+2019>s bedminster, n.j., golf club saturday to discuss the new administration. <u+201c>i would tell you that it was not only a cordial meeting, but also it was a very substantive meeting,<u+201d> mr. pence said on cbs . <u+201c>and i can say that gov. romney is under active and serious consideration to serve as secretary of state of the united states.<u+201d> on sunday, mr. trump met with former new york mayor rudy giuliani, who is among those vying for the secretary of state post. asked what the pair discussed behind closed doors, mr. trump replied: <u+201c>wouldn<u+2019>t you like to know.<u+201d> mr. trump also met sunday with wilbur ross, a billionaire investor and political donor whom the president-elect said he was considering for commerce secretary. both messrs. ross and dimon<u+2014>who people familiar with the situation said is disinclined to take the treasury post<u+2014>may require a bit of explanation to mr. trump<u+2019>s supporters. mr. trump railed against the influence of wall street and political donors during the campaign. <u+201c>time will tell,<u+201d> mr. ross told reporters when asked if he wanted the commerce department post. the continuing debate over who should navigate u.s. economic policy suggests mr. trump may be more open for now to competing voices on trade and finance than on foreign policy. mr. mnuchin is a former goldman sachs investment banker who has become a trusted adviser to mr. trump after serving as his campaign<u+2019>s finance chairman. messrs. mnuchin and dimon are from the financial world, while mr. hensarling is a longtime politician and committed conservative ideologue. with eight weeks until his inauguration, mr. trump has seized control of his transition by holding near-continuous face-to-face meetings with potential hires. in new york, those visits are regularly held in his corner office on the 26th floor of trump tower. he is joined by mr. priebus; steve bannon, his chief strategist; kellyanne conway, a senior adviser; and often one of his children, such as eric trump, who sat in on several meetings last week. still, the transition had an uncomfortable start, with the ouster of chris christie from his leadership position and the sidelining of the new jersey governor<u+2019>s allies, along with the uprooting several lobbyists on the team. two senior advisers to mr. trump said the transition team initially wasn<u+2019>t properly prepared. some staffers didn<u+2019>t submit their r<u+00e9>sum<u+00e9>s before they were hired, and others conflicted with mr. trump<u+2019>s promise to <u+201c>drain the swamp<u+201d> in washington by removing lobbyists whose clients stand to benefit financially from government actions. corrections & amplifications: <u+201c>we had a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the united states of real significance,<u+201d> former massachusetts gov. mitt romney said. an earlier version of this article misstated the quote. (nov. 20, 2016) write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com and nick timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
mitt romney under <u+2018>active and serious consideration<u+2019> as secretary of state - wsj
michael c. bender nick timiraos