STEVEN MNUCHIN/TAXES/TREASURY: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is the de facto frontman for the administration’s proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax system because of his extreme loyalty to President Donald Trump and the scores of tax policy experts and economists at his command.
But Mnuchin, a former investment banker and movie financier with no prior experience in Washington, hasn’t been able to overcome Republicans’ suspicion about his Wall Street background and limited conservative credentials. That may complicate White House efforts to influence debate as the details of a tax bill are written.
Republicans’ simmering discontent with Mnuchin emerged full force in September, when he urged House Republicans to vote for the deal to temporarily raise the debt ceiling as part of a package that Trump had crafted with the two top Democratic leaders…
The administration declined to make Mnuchin available for comment.”
–Nancy Cook, “Mnuchin crashes into steep learning curve on the Hill,” Politico, Oct. 26, 2017 05:03am