sen. elizabeth warren labeled steven mnuchin "the forrest gump of the financial crisis." | ap photo activists pledged an all-out assault on capitol hill to convince senators to oppose the nomination. by zachary warmbrodt 11/30/16 07:55 pm est senate democrats and progressive groups are rolling out a fiery welcome mat for steven mnuchin as he takes his first steps into government service even as they have little leverage to stop him from becoming donald trump's treasury secretary. leading liberal sens. elizabeth warren (d-mass.) and sherrod brown (d-ohio) shredded trump's announcement that he would nominate the goldman sachs alum and hedge fund executive to his administration's top economic policy post. story continued below warren labeled mnuchin "the forrest gump of the financial crisis" for participating in "all the worst practices on wall street." brown said his appointment wasn't draining the washington swamp as trump had pledged <u+2014> "it<u+2019>s stocking it with alligators." "it<u+2019>s just hard to imagine any single person more powerfully embodying trump<u+2019>s faux-populism than this guy," said lisa gilbert, director of public citizen's congress watch division. trump on wednesday praised mnuchin as "a world-class financier, banker and businessman" who played a key role in developing the president-elect's economic plan. progressive groups and financial reform advocates warned that mnuchin's background and recent comments about revamping the 2010 dodd-frank law were signs that trump's administration would work to advance wall street's interests. incoming senate minority leader chuck schumer (d-n.y.) said the nominee should face "tough and pointed questions" on his views of overseeing the financial system. by victoria guida , ben white and zachary warmbrodt activists pledged an all-out assault on capitol hill to convince senators to oppose the nomination, which is sure to advance if the gop majority unifies behind him. in 2013, democrats eliminated the use of the filibuster on nominees outside the u.s. supreme court, doing away with a 60-vote threshold. senate republicans are expected to have a 52-48 edge over democrats next year. but progressives were working hard to make mnuchin a symbol of the potential conflicts of interest and out-of-touch elitism that they want to highlight in the early days of trump's administration. rootstrikers, a wall street-focused advocacy arm of the nonprofit demand progress, plans to lob "hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and thousands of phone calls to the senate" in opposition to mnuchin. the group warned that no democrat should support his nomination. "our initial plan is to target all senate offices to turn up the volume against trump's cabinet of corporate cronies and hatemongers, with mnuchin as a centerpiece," rootstrikers campaign director kurt walters said. if democrats stood together against the nomination, walters said, it would take a small number of "principled republicans" to block him in committee or on the senate floor. "the hope would be to reach others," gilbert said. some senate democrats were willing to keep an open mind. by ben white and jake sherman sen. jon tester , a moderate from montana up for reelection in 2018, said he looked forward to meeting with mnuchin "to ask him tough questions and ensure that he is qualified for the job." one divisive issue could prove to be mnuchin's views on oversight of the financial system and his long career within it. mnuchin on wednesday pledged to "strip back" parts of the dodd-frank law, which stepped up oversight of banks and other financial institutions. democrats have signaled that they will fight dramatic changes to their signature legislation enacted after the 2008 crisis. <u+201c>senate democrats are committed to preventing a rollback of wall street reform, and mr. mnuchin should face tough and pointed questions on his views of wall street regulation," schumer said. "time and time again in the campaign, the president-elect said he would stand up to wall street and work on behalf of middle class families. if his nominees won<u+2019>t do that, it<u+2019>s clear he<u+2019>ll have broken his promise to his supporters.<u+201d> mnuchin is also under fire for his involvement in the takeover of failed bank indymac <u+2014> a resume item that has been fodder for critics to accuse him of benefiting from mortgage foreclosures. sen. ron wyden , the ranking democrat on the senate finance committee who will be a key player in vetting the nominee, called out his "history of profiting off the victims of predatory lending." mnuchin defended himself wednesday, saying the deal "saved a lot of jobs" and entailed buying "the worst mortgage portfolio in the history of time." by louis nelson and darren samuelsohn republicans and business groups praised his qualifications. "steve is a seasoned and results-oriented leader who is really smart, interested in public policy, and understands the urgent need to boost economic growth and opportunity," said financial services roundtable ceo tim pawlenty, a former minnesota governor. senate finance chairman orrin hatch (r-utah) said "given the depth and breadth of steven<u+2019>s private sector experience, he will play a pivotal role in bicameral efforts to revamp the nation<u+2019>s outdated tax code." hatch said he looked forward to reviewing mnuchin's "vast qualifications for one of the cabinet<u+2019>s most important positions in the new year.<u+201d> rep. bill huizenga (r-mich.) said in an interview that it was "a little interesting, once again, we've gone to goldman sachs" but "you want to have real-world experience." huizenga said mnuchin would have to overcome skepticism toward wall street and concerns that the system is geared toward influential companies and institutions. "he's going to have to prove everybody different and wrong, which i would suspect he will," he said. by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
mnuchin faces assault from progressives - politico
zachary warmbrodt victoria guida ben white zachary warmbrodt ben white jake sherman louis nelson darren samuelsohn michael grunwald