president-elect donald j. trump has made an illogically logical choice for his treasury secretary, steven mnuchin. mr. mnuchin<u+2019>s wall street past will rankle democrats. but unlike many people whom mr. trump has put on his team, he is neither an ideologue nor a populist. he is also well qualified for the job, bipartisan and relatively reserved. mr. mnuchin<u+2019>s career as a financier will not make for a smooth ride though confirmation hearings. he spent 17 years at goldman sachs, working in mortgage securities before becoming chief information officer. he left in 2002 to set up his own hedge fund, dune capital, which helped finance hit movies like <u+201c>avatar.<u+201d> and he and fellow investors made a 150 percent profit in five years turning around the defunct mortgage lender indymac bank, which they bought in 2009 and renamed onewest bank. lobbying groups are already coming out against his nomination, in part because of accusations that onewest bank<u+2019>s foreclosure policies were too aggressive. people <u+201c>should be terrified by the prospect of a treasury secretary mnuchin,<u+201d> the take on wall street campaign said on tuesday. republicans, though, have the majority needed to confirm him. he is not a republican through and through. he has given money multiple times to senator chuck schumer, democrat of new york, who will be the next senate leader for the democrats. he donated to president obama<u+2019>s first presidential campaign and raised money this year for kamala harris, a democrat who won a california senate seat in this month<u+2019>s election. he even recently floated the idea of creating an infrastructure bank, a plan pitched earlier by hillary clinton. that suggests a more pragmatic approach to the job than, say the attorney general nominee, jeff sessions, or the health and human services appointee, tom price. such an approach could help him balance competing views while pushing for some of mr. trump<u+2019>s major first-year goals, like a tax code overhaul, infrastructure spending and a government budget that could substantially increase the national debt . in a rare quality for washington insiders, mr. mnuchin also does not seek the limelight, which could appeal to lawmakers who are eager to take credit for policy victories. it all bodes well for america<u+2019>s fiscal policy.
steven mnuchin is more pragmatist than ideologue
gina chon