The vote for President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, is scheduled to come before the Senate today.
The vote is scheduled for Monday night around 7 p.m. ET, according to an article by David Lawder for Reuters. Mnuchin’s confirmation seems sure as no Republicans expressed opposition to the pick, which would give Mnuchin a majority with 52 votes.
But the Democratic opposition to this nominee built up in recent weeks. In fact, Senate Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee boycotted Mnuchin, delaying the already rescheduled confirmation vote.
However, Senate Republicans managed to supersede the boycotts, and pass the vote on to the Senate floor.
But why are the Democrats so opposed to Trump’s treasury pick? In part, they cite Mnuchin’s time at OneWest Bank, bringing up the bank’s role in foreclosures during the housing crisis. In fact, they even dubbed him the “foreclosure king” based off of the many foreclosures the bank performed.
However, before the first hearing, Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford defended Mnuchin, saying he was not a foreclosure king.
Democrats continue to oppose the nomination, and Senator Tim Kaine explained his frustration with the Treasury pick.
Pres Trump pledged to drain the swamp & advocate for working people, but his nomination of Mnuchin just amounts to another broken promise
— Senator Tim Kaine (@timkaine) February 13, 2017
In fact, the fight isn't over yet as Democrats continue to take a stand against Mnuchin. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, tweeted that he should not be Treasury Secretary, using the hastag #foreclosureking.
Treasury Sec. job is to work on behalf of all Americans. #ForeclosureKing Mnuchin does not fit that bill. WATCH: https://t.co/MpgYmFvhOJ
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) February 10, 2017
As far as Mnuchin’s plans for after he is confirmed, he announced that undoing Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act is one of his top priorities. This goes along with Trump’s recent executive order to roll back the act.
Also, although Mnuchin made headlines shortly after the announcement of his nomination with discussions of removing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control, he announced in his committee that he opposes recap and release of the GSEs.
