Investment banker Antonio Weiss, President Obama’s pick for the No. 3 spot at the Treasury Department, is withdrawing his nomination amid opposition from liberal Democrats.
“Over the weekend, Mr. Weiss asked the White House not to re-nominate him to serve as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Treasury Department,” said White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman in a statement.
{mosads}”Mr. Weiss made the request to avoid the distraction of the lengthy confirmation process that his renomination would likely entail.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a potential 2016 contender, and other progressives had opposed Weiss’s nomination, arguing that he was too close to Wall Street. Weiss is an executive at the investment bank Lazard.
Asked to comment on Weiss’s withdrawal, Warren said that it’s “critical” for Treasury officials to defend the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.
“We’ve already seen that the new Republican Congress is going to aggressively attack the Dodd-Frank Act,” Warren said in a statement. “It is critical that the Treasury Department defend the Act from those attacks and push for strong implementation and enforcement of the law.”
She said that “the risk of another financial crisis remains too high, and we should be strengthening financial reforms, not rolling them back to benefit Wall Street.”
The White House had defended Weiss’s selection. Friedman said that Weiss would instead accept a post as counselor to the Treasury Secretary.
“We strongly believe that the opposition to his nomination was not justified, and we are confident that he will prove himself to be a dedicated, talented, and effective public servant,” she said.
There’s no word yet on whom Obama will nominate for the post.
This story was updated at 7:15 p.m.