Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday downplayed increasing liberal angst over a deregulation provision in the omnibus spending bill set for a vote this week, and brushed off concerns regarding President Obama’s latest Treasury nominee.
Lew declined to say that the administration would oppose the bill to fund the government and avoid a shutdown over the inclusion of a measure that would roll bank a Dodd-Frank provision meant to prevent trading in derivatives in bank units receiving a federal backstop.
“We think that’s wrong,” Lew said of the measure at a New York Times Dealbook conference. “But you gotta also look at in the context of this omnibus,” he said, noting that extraneous provisions are often slipped into big must-pass bills.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has criticized the inclusion of the repeal of the derivatives regulation, and called on House Democrats to oppose the spending bill. Other Democrats joined her yesterday in warning about the consequences of rolling back the swaps push-out provision, as it’s known.
Lew explained that the administration would have to assess the bill as a whole, taking into account the funding levels it set and the possibility that it would stave off shutdown drama. “I can’t sit here today and tell you the final outcome,” he said.
Lew also pushed back against Warren’s effort to stop Obama’s selection of Lazard banker Antonio Weiss for Treasury secretary of domestic finance.
Warren has gained support from other Senate Democrats for warning that Weiss’ Wall Street background disqualifies him for a regulatory position.
But Lew said that “you need multiple perspectives represented in a department like the Treasury.”
“I think you’re hearing more from the few than from the many,” regarding Democratic senators’ opinions on Weiss, Lew said, adding that the administration was not discussing withdrawing the nomination.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that many people remain concerned about Wall Street’s influence in the government.
“It is a natural thing for there to be some lingering concerns about whether or not the institutions … that cause the last crisis are truly changed,” he said of banks. “It’s a lot to expect for the American people who are struggling with wages that are not rising as fast as they should to say everything’s fine.”
