WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Republicans took unprecedented action on Wednesday and voted without any Democrats to recommend the full Senate confirm Steven Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary.
The president's nominee had said during his confirmation hearing before the committee last month that he would work to "enhance" private activity bonds so they could be used to encourage more private investment in infrastructure projects. He also said he would help administration officials consider all options to ensure the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.
The 14-0 vote came after Democrats boycotted two committee meetings with the aim of preventing the vote, and panel member Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., obtained unanimous consent to waive a committee rule that said a quorum would have to include at one member of each party.
Democrats boycotted the vote after charging that Mnuchin had not been fully vetted and did not truthfully answer questions about illegally robo-signing mortgage documents or provide the foreclosure data from OneWest Bank, which he led.
Committee Democrats, led by Sen. Ron Wyden from Oregon, relayed their concerns in a letter sent Wednesday to panel chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., and asked for Mnuchin to provide detailed information on several issues.
"We must insist that these issues for [the nominee] be addressed in writing and that Mr. Mnuchin provide the requested data," Wyden said in a release.
But Hatch called the allegations "dramatically overstated" and claimed Mnuchin provided honest answers. "In his answer to a colleagues' vague written question, Mr. Mnuchin stated that OneWest did not engage in the practice and referred to a government review of practices that provide an analog for the loose notion of "robo-signing." According to the measures utilized in that review, OneWest did not engage in "robo-signing.
"In other words, Mr. Mnuchin provided an honest answer," Hatch said. "This is the level of minutia we're dealing with here. My colleagues are using their own parsed words and vague questions as justification for their refusal to even vote on these nominations."
