Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been telling colleagues that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has privately assured him she would allow a vote on the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement by October, Axios reports.
Pelosi’s office unequivocally denies that she gave Mnuchin any assurances on timing for a USMCA vote.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested today that he will reject House Democrats’ subpoena for President Trump’s tax returns, and that the issue is headed for the courts, Politico reports.
Said Mnuchin: “There is a difference in interpretation between Congress and us and the Department of Justice around this law. This is why there are three branches of government so if there is a difference of opinion this will go to the third branch of government to be resolved.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would not meet the Democrats’ demand for six years of President Trump’s tax filings , saying it lacked a “legitimate legislative purpose,” the Washington Post reports.
“House Democrats say the returns are part of necessary oversight, while the administration has rejected the request as part of a politically motivated witch hunt.”
Wall Street Journal: “The move, which Mr. Mnuchin had signaled for weeks, will likely send the dispute between the executive and legislative branches into federal court. Judges may take months or years to resolve the legal question about the boundaries of congressional investigations.”
The New York Times says the move sets up “a legal battle likely to be resolved by the Supreme Court.”
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested he will protect President Trump’s privacy if he receives a request from House Democrats for Trump’s tax returns, NBC News reports.
Said Mnuchin: “We will examine the request and we will follow the law… and we will protect the president as we would protect any taxpayer.”
President Trump’s “frustration with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is ratcheting up further after markets suffered their worst Christmas Eve drop ever despite Mnuchin’s attempts to calm Wall Street,” CNN reports.
The source said that Mnuchin “could be in ‘serious jeopardy’ with Trump, who regularly rages at Cabinet members he feels have made mistakes, before he cools off.”
“Trump nevertheless vouched for Mnuchin publicly, shifting blame for the market volatility to the Federal Reserve instead.”
“In a precautionary move, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent Sunday on the phone speaking with the chief executives of six of the country’s largest banks to avoid yet another market whiplash when Wall Street opens Monday,” CNN reports.
“The secretary… tried to get ahead of further market jitters following reports that President Trump was consulting advisers about whether he had the legal authority to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.”
Axios: “It’s unclear Trump would have the legal authority to take such action. Such a move would also undermine international faith in the Fed.”
“He’s reportedly worth $300 million, but it appears even Steve Mnuchin can’t say no to a cheap bottle of wine,” the Daily Mail reports.
“The Secretary of Treasury was snapped bringing a $22 bottle of red wine on a visit to Jared Kushner’s house in Washington DC on Sunday. Mnuchin was dressed down for the visit with Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, sporting jeans and a gray polo shirt.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s infamous trip to Kentucky to watch the solar eclipse last August cost taxpayers $33,000 because the secretary traveled on a military aircraft rather than on a commercial flight, the Daily Beast reports.
Records show that the government has already spent nearly $1 million for Mnuchin’s flights on military aircraft.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “has flown on military aircraft seven times since March at a cost of more than $800,000, including a $15,000 round-trip flight to New York to meet with President Trump at Trump Tower,” the New York Times reports.
Bloomberg: “Between a personnel shortage at the Treasury and a political crisis at the White House… Mnuchin faces difficulty fulfilling President Trump’s ambitious economic agenda… Mnuchin was already leaning on Jim Donovan to help manage the department, even though he had not officially left Goldman Sachs. One of Donovan’s tasks was to recruit people for other senior positions in the agency.”
Last week, Donovan withdrew his nomination before the Senate to become Mnuchin’s deputy.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin “declined to guarantee that middle-class families wouldn’t pay more under President Trump’s sweeping tax overhaul plan,” ABC News reports.
Said Mnuchin: “I can’t make any guarantees until this thing is done and it’s on the president’s desk. But I can tell you, that’s our number one objective in this.”
“The president has no intention. The president has released plenty of information, and I think has given more financial disclosure than anybody else. I think the American population has plenty of information.”
— Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, quoted by the Washington Post, on whether President Trump will release his tax returns.
“As long as we can renegotiate deals that are good for us, we won’t be protectionist; otherwise, we will.”
— Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, on C-SPAN.
“In a surprise turn of events, Senate Democrats announced Tuesday morning that they are boycotting a committee vote on two of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, drawing fury from Republicans across the aisle,” CNN reports.
“The Senate Finance Committee was set to vote on the nominations of Rep. Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary. But minutes after the vote was scheduled to take place, Democrats on the panel convened an impromptu news conference to announce that they refused to participate in the proceeding, all as their Republican colleagues were waiting in a hearing room down the hallway.”
President Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary was untruthful with the Senate during the confirmation process, documents uncovered by the Columbus Dispatch show.
“Steve Mnuchin, former chairman and chief executive officer of OneWest Bank, known for its aggressive foreclosure practices, flatly denied in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee that OneWest used ‘robo-signing’ on mortgage documents. But records show the bank utilized the questionable practice in Ohio.”
Mike Allen: “Transition officials tell us they are worried about Steven Mnuchin’s readiness for his Thursday confirmation hearing to run Treasury. In early prep sessions, he came off as uneven and stiff, so extra people were brought in to help get him ready. (One spy at the transition office told me that all the suits surrounding a conference table during one of Mnuchin’s prep sessions made it look like a Fortune 500 board meeting.) And some insiders worry about how he’d react to demonstrators.”
“Democrats hope to derail at least one pick, and Mnuchin still tops the list. Insiders weren’t thrilled when he leaked word of his selection and then went on CNBC to talk about it. So it’ll be interesting to see how hard Trump fights for this one, if needed.”
“A top economic adviser to President-elect Donald Trump said that the new administration was exploring the creation of an infrastructure bank, an idea that has received mixed support from Republicans in the past,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Trump transition official Steven Mnuchin, who is considered a candidate for treasury secretary, told reporters in New York that he and Mr. Trump had already discussed their proposed tax-code rewrite.”
Said Mnuchin: “I think the other thing—very big focus—is regulatory changes, looking at the creation of an infrastructure bank to fund infrastructure investments. We want to be in a position where in the first 100 days we can execute the economic plan.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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