by matthew nussbaum 11/30/16 07:29 am est president-elect donald trump on wednesday nominated steven mnuchin to serve as treasury secretary and wilbur ross as commerce secretary. <u+201c>steve mnuchin is a world-class financier, banker and businessman, and has played a key role in developing our plan to build a dynamic, booming economy that will create millions of jobs,<u+201d> trump said in a statement. <u+201c>his expertise and pro-growth ideas make him the ideal candidate to serve as secretary of the treasury. he purchased indymac bank for $1.6 billion and ran it very professionally, selling it for $3.4 billion plus a return of capital. that<u+2019>s the kind of people i want in my administration representing our country." story continued below mnuchin is a 17-year-veteran of goldman sachs and was an early supporter of trump. <u+201c>i did this because i believed in him,<u+201d> mnuchin said wednesday morning, adding in a statement that "i understand what needs to be done to fix the economy. i look forward to helping president-elect trump implement a bold economic agenda that creates good-paying jobs and defends the american worker." incoming white house chief of staff reince priebus said both men are going to be "in lockstep" with trump and vice president-elect mike pence's vision. "i mean, there<u+2019>s just no question about it," priebus said wednesday on msnbc. "they wouldn't be offered a position if they didn't follow suit with the exact things that president trump wanted. in fact, steve mnuchin was part of writing that hundred-day plan and that speech that donald trump gave a few weeks ago about what the first 100 days would be like.<u+201d> during a brief stop with reporters at trump tower wednesday, mnuchin said improving the economy will be a top priority. <u+201c>our no. 1 priority is going to be the economy, get back to 3 to 4 percent growth, we believe that's very sustainable and focus on things for the american worker, that's absolutely our priority,<u+201d> mnuchin told the press, per a pool report. mnuchin promised early tax reform, with tax cuts for corporations and the middle class. <u+201c>well, our first priority is going to be the tax plan and the tax plan has both the corporate aspects to it, lowering corporate taxes so we make u.s. companies the most competitive in the world, making sure we repatriate trillions of dollars back to the united states, and the personal income taxes where we're going to have the most significant middle income tax cut since reagan,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>we're going to incorporate the child care program, so this is going to be a tremendous boon to the economy.<u+201d> mnuchin, a 53-year-old hedge fund ceo and hollywood film producer, has expressed skepticism on the 2010 dodd-frank act, which reshaped how wall street operates. he previously said the law <u+201c>needs to be looked at," but on wednesday vowed to alter it. <u+201c>the no. 1 problem with dodd-frank is it<u+2019>s way too complicated and it cuts back lending, so we want to strip back parts of dodd-frank that prevent banks from lending and that will be the no. 1 priority on the regulatory side,<u+201d> mnuchin told cnbc<u+2019>s <u+201c>squawk box<u+201d> wednesday. <u+201c>the no. 1 priority is going to be to make sure that banks lend.<u+201d> mnuchin earlier served as national finance chair for trump's campaign but, like trump, has no formal government experience. trump also praised ross as a champion of manufacturing. <u+201c>he is one of the greatest negotiators i have ever met, and that comes from me, the author of the art of the deal. together, we will take on the special interests and stand up for american jobs,<u+201d> trump said in a statement. <u+201c>wilbur knows that cutting taxes for working families, reducing burdensome government regulations and unleashing america's energy resources will strengthen our economy at a time when our country needs to see significant growth. i am proud to nominate him as secretary of commerce.<u+201d> ross, a 78-year-old billionaire and founder of the private equity firm wl ross & co., has been an economic adviser to trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. he<u+2019>s known for restructuring failing companies and earned the nickname <u+201c>the king of bankruptcies.<u+201d> he is expected to share with trump the fear that america is suffering from unfair trading practices. in a paper written on trump<u+2019>s economic plan, ross stated: <u+201c>if america<u+2019>s trading partners continue to cheat, a president trump will use all available means to defend american workers and american manufacturing facilities from such cheating, including tariffs.<u+201d> he co-authored the paper with peter navarro, another trump adviser. <u+201c>i am delighted to have been selected to join president-elect trump's cabinet and look forward to working especially closely with steve mnuchin to implement the economic programs which we have developed jointly to implement the president-elect's strategy for accelerating our economic growth,<u+201d> ross said in a statement. louis nelson contributed reporting to this report. by bill scher by joshua zeitz by thomas wright by jack shafer
trump nominates steve mnuchin, wilbur ross for cabinet positions - politico
matthew nussbaum jack shafer