On Monday, the Senate is expected to confirm two of President Trump's Cabinet nominees, Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary and David Shulkin to head the Department of Veteran Affairs. The vote on Mnuchin, a former top Goldman Sachs executive and Hollywood financier, will be much closer than Shulkin's confirmation. Republicans argue that Mnuchin is well-qualified to be treasury secretary because of his long experience on Wall Street, while Democrats say that same experience — including the 36,000 homeowners his bank OneWest foreclosed on after the 2008 financial collapse — is a disqualifying stain. They also point to $100 million in assets and a Cayman Islands directorship that Mnuchin said he forgot to include on his financial disclosure forms.
"This treasury nominee is smart, he's capable, and he's got impressive private-sector experience," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "We need him confirmed as soon as possible so he can begin to tackle these challenges and reverse the last eight years of economic heartache." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) disagreed, calling OneWest a "foreclosure machine" with "sleazy and out of line" business practices. "Mr. Mnuchin is the ultimate Wall Street insider," she said. "If Wall Street threatens to blow up the economy again, does anyone seriously expect Mr. Mnuchin to get tough with his old buddies and tell them to knock it off?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2025Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - Pam Bondi, retirement planning, and more
-
5 heavy-handed cartoons about ICE and deportationCartoons Artists take on international students, the Supreme Court, and more
-
Exploring the three great gardens of JapanThe Week Recommends Beautiful gardens are 'the stuff of Japanese landscape legends'
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
