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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - November 30, 2016
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This is the November 30, 2016, edition of a daily email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition team, potential cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
Nominations and Appointments
As of November 30, 2016, Trump had announced six out of 15 cabinet nominations.
Steven Mnuchin
President-elect Trump confirmed that he had chosen to nominate financier Steven Mnuchin to fill the role of Secretary of the Treasury in the next administration. Mnuchin manages his own capital investment firm, Dune Capital Partners, which he started after spending 17 years with Goldman Sachs. He has typically invested in real estate and in Hollywood film production. Jack Lew is the current Secretary of the Treasury.
As the finance chairman for Trump’s campaign, Mnuchin was instrumental in developing Trump’s tax policy proposals. In September 2016, he explained Trump’s proposal to cut all corporate taxes to 15 percent, saying, “The intent of the plan is that big and small businesses have tax relief.”
Highlights from Trump’s tax plan, which Mnuchin helped to craft during the campaign:
- A reduction in the number of income tax brackets from seven to three: 12 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent.
- A proposed deduction of the average cost of childcare expenses for parents.
- A maximum corporate tax of 15 percent.
Click here to see more on Trump’s tax proposals during the election.
In his first public comments since being chosen, Mnuchin reiterated his support for Trump’s tax proposals, saying, “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.”
Liberal reaction to Mnuchin
Democrats reacted negatively to Trump’s choice of Mnuchin, citing his long experience on Wall Street.
- The Democratic National Committee: “So much for draining the swamp. ... Nominating Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary... is a slap in the face to voters who hoped he would shake up Washington.”
- Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is a leading critic of large financial institutions: “Steve Mnuchin is the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis — he managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street. … His selection as Treasury secretary should send shivers down the spine of every American who got hit hard by the financial crisis, and is the latest sign that Donald Trump has no intention of draining the swamp and every intention of running Washington to benefit himself and his rich buddies.”
Conservative reactions to Mnuchin
Reactions to the announcement were limited but positive among conservatives.
- Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a statement: “I am excited to get to work with this impressive team to fix our broken tax code, ease the regulatory burden on American businesses, and grow our economy. These men together bring decades of experience across a wide spectrum of industries to their respective roles. I have the utmost confidence that they will serve President-elect Trump and the American people well.”
- Former Treasury Secretary (and former CEO of Goldman Sachs) Hank Paulson issued a statement saying, “He has the right combination of self-confidence, humility and people skills to work across the aisle to find common ground, and he has deep knowledge of financial markets.”
Wilbur Ross
Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor and chairman of the private investment firm WL Ross & Co, was chosen to become the next Secretary of Commerce, a position that is intended to promote trade and economic stability.
Ross has consistently supported Trump’s candidacy and his economic priorities.
- In June 2016, he praised what he saw as Trump’s “more radical, new approach to government.”
- In September 2016, Ross co-authored an opinion piece outlining what he saw as the benefits of Trump’s economic plans: “It would cut taxes, reduce regulations, remove restrictions on energy development and eliminate our debilitating trade deficit. As growth rapidly accelerated, Trumpnomics would generate millions of additional jobs and trillions of dollars in additional income and tax revenue.”
- In August 2016, Ross criticized current U.S. trade policies, a cornerstone of Trump’s candidacy: “Free trade is like free lunch, there is no free lunch. Somebody wins and somebody loses and unfortunately we’ve been losing with these stupid agreements that we’ve made.”
Side note: Ross is the second consecutive billionaire chosen as a nominee for Secretary of Commerce. The current secretary is Penny Pritzker, who has an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion, made mostly from the hotel industry.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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