The Senate took a step toward reinforcing the Trump administration’s economic team Wednesday, advancing several candidates out of two committees.
The Banking Committee advanced the candidacies of Kevin Hassett to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Pam Patenaude to be the deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The nominees advanced on voice vote, but liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., requested to be recorded as a “no” vote.
Separately, the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance several nominees for positions at the Treasury Department. Secretary Steven Mnuchin is the only confirmed official at the agency.
One nominee was David Malpass, a former economist for failed investment bank Bear Stearns and a Bush and Reagan official, for the position of undersecretary for international affairs.
“His input and expertise will be crucial as we seek to refrom the tax code,” committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah said earlier in the day.
The panel also voted for Andrew Maloney to serve as deputy undersecretary for legislative affairs. Lastly, it approved Brent James McIntosh as general counsel.
Each nominee received one or several “no” votes from Democrats.
During a brief executive session in the morning, Democrats used the opportunity to criticize Republicans for not holding public hearings on the healthcare legislation that they are working out behind closed doors. Healthcare is one of the several major areas over which the committee has jurisdiction.
Separately, Mnuchin told a House appropriations panel that the Trump administration has identified candidates for all the open positions at the Treasury, but that it has not been able to submit them to the Senate because of the need to perform background checks.
