president-elect donald trump appears likely to choose between investment banker steven mnuchin and texas rep. jeb hensarling to steer the treasury department, though advisers say he is still drawn to the idea of appointing j.p. morgan chase & co. chief executive james dimon. 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. trump has rolled out several national-security picks that include like-minded hard-liners, while the differences between his potential treasury picks, and other possible economic appointments, point to the divergent paths down which his economic policy might go. mr. trump may still decide to broaden his outreach on the foreign policy front, with former<u+00a0>massachusetts gov. mitt romney potentially in the mix for secretary of state , for instance. 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. mr. hensarling is a favorite of the gop<u+2019>s grass roots conservatives. both messrs. mnuchin and dimon are apolitical bankers, but the former has a long record of proven loyalty to mr. trump, while mr. hensarling is a longtime politician and committed conservative ideologue. the dimon pick appears implausible because of doubts among mr. trump<u+2019>s advisers and because mr. dimon has signaled he has little interest in leaving the bank. some of mr. trump<u+2019>s advisers have cautioned against recruiting mr. dimon to join the team without several strings attached, such as requiring mr. dimon to allow the white house to select senior treasury appointees in order to allay concerns that mr. dimon<u+2019>s deputies would be loyal to him and not the trump administration. these people have compared the situation to president george w. bush<u+2019>s selection of colin powell as secretary of state in 2001, a pick that heartened the foreign-policy establishment but later led to unflattering recriminations after mr. powell helped build the case to invade iraq on intelligence that proved to be flawed. the first picks for mr. trump<u+2019>s cabinet, including retired lt. gen. michael flynn as national security adviser and alabama sen. jeff sessions as attorney general, have rewarded loyalty from early supporters. the pattern would suggest mr. mnuchin, a member of the campaign<u+2019>s inner circle who has been deeply involved in pulling together the new administration, would have the inside track. mr. hensarling has met with mr. trump on a handful of occasions, including last thursday in new york. another top economic adviser to mr. trump, wilbur ross jr., has emerged as the front-runner for commerce secretary. mr. ross is scheduled to meet with mr. trump on sunday. mr. ross, 78 years old, has told associates that accepting a job in the administration would probably spell the end of the new york financier<u+2019>s business career because he would be forced to divest himself of his investment holdings. mr. mnuchin, 54, is a former banker turned hollywood financier who became mr. trump<u+2019>s finance chair in may, when many in the political establishment had written off his chances of defeating democratic front-runner hillary clinton. outside trump tower, mr. mnuchin<u+2019>s elevation to treasury secretary could be seen undercutting mr. trump<u+2019>s antiestablishment appeal. but inside, mr. mnuchin is viewed as a skilled team player strongly committed to mr. trump<u+2019>s agenda to cut taxes and negotiate stronger agreements with u.s. trading partners, two likely areas of focus for the next treasury secretary. mr. hensarling, 59, is a close ally of house speaker paul ryan (r., wis.) and<u+00a0>a<u+00a0>prot<u+00e9>g<u+00e9><u+00a0>of former texas sen.<u+00a0>phil gramm, an architect of financial deregulation in the 1990s. mr. hensarling has been chairman of the house financial services committee since 2013, where he has been a key advocate of overturning the dodd-frank financial-overhaul law. some advisers to mr. trump see mr. hensarling as potentially more useful to the administration if he remains in his congressional post. he hasn<u+2019>t been as vocal a critic of u.s. trade policy as mr. trump and voted last year in favor of legislation that cleared the way for trade negotiators to conclude work on the 12-nation trans-pacific partnership. instead, he has been sharply opposed to federal credit-guarantee programs, including the u.s. export-import bank and government-backed lending through mortgage companies fannie mae and freddie mac. his fights to curtail federal lending links have at times caused divisions with his gop colleagues. <u+2014>maureen farrell contributed to this article write to nick timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
donald trump treasury choices likely narrowed to two - wsj
nick timiraos