Senate Confirms Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary

On Feb. 13, by a vote of 53 to 47, the United States Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Steve Mnuchin, a former investment banker and Hollywood film financier, to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. Mnuchin served as senior advisor and finance chair to the Trump campaign and recently served as chairman and corporate executive officer of OneWest Bank.

During the confirmation process, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) submitted written questions to Mnuchin asking his opinion on the LIHTC program and the tax-exemption for municipal bonds. Mnuchin replied that he would work with Congress to ensure which tax credits and deductions should be preserved as part of a broader tax reform package. In response to a written question from Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO), Mnuchin described private activity bonds (PABs) as a “valuable way to incentivize private investment in America’s infrastructure” and said that he would review ways to enhance PABs so as to increase private investment in infrastructure.