Senate panel advances Trump’s pick to be deputy Treasury secretary

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved President Trump’s nominee to be deputy Treasury secretary, but the top Democrat on the panel announced plans to put a hold on floor debate about the pick.

The Finance Committee advanced Justin Muzinich’s nomination to be deputy Treasury secretary by a party-line vote of 14-13.

{mosads}Muzinich has served as counselor to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin since early last year. At his confirmation hearing last week, Republicans praised Muzinich for being a key asset during the GOP’s successful effort to pass tax-cut legislation.

But Finance Committee ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (Ore.) complained during the hearing that it was “a struggle to get straight answers to questions that ought to have been low-hanging fruit.”

Wyden cited as an example his question to Muzinich about whether Treasury had a role in preventing foreign governments from interfering in U.S. elections. Wyden also criticized Muzinich for saying that the new tax law will pay for itself — a claim that economists across the ideological spectrum refute.

Additionally, Wyden blasted a potential plan from the Trump administration to reduce capital gains taxes via an executive decision, calling the idea “a $100 billion handout to the most fortunate in America.”

Wyden previously announced that he plans to keep holds on Treasury nominees until the agency stops “stonewalling” Democrats’ requests for information from the department. He said he would put a hold on Muzinich’s nomination as well.

“His stonewalling would fit right in if he stood next to the Alexander Hamilton statue outside the Treasury building,” Wyden said.

The Finance Committee also approved the nomination of Michael Desmond to be chief counsel of the IRS on a bipartisan vote, with only Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) voting “no.”

Desmond is a California tax lawyer who has previously worked in the Justice Department’s Tax Division and at Treasury. If confirmed, he would play a key role in the IRS’s process of issuing guidance to implement the new tax law.

Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) called Muzinich and Desmond “eminent professionals and dedicated public servants.”