02.10.17

Cantwell Announces Opposition to Treasury Nominee Mnuchin in Speech on Senate Floor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced her opposition to Treasury Secretary Nominee Steve Mnuchin in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Cantwell urged her colleagues to vote ‘NO’ on the nomination, citing Mnuchin’s lack of experience helping average Americans, his opposition to reigning in the reckless behavior of Wall Street, and his record of using unethical and illegal methods to foreclose on struggling homeowners.

“Mr. Mnuchin reportedly made $100 million when he sold OneWest in 2015 for double of what he paid the government. There are at least 50,000 victims of OneWest, including 1,600 in the state of Washington. OneWest Bank, with Mr. Mnuchin as chair, booked billions of profits on the backs of victims,” said Senator Cantwell in her floor remarks.

Earlier this month, Cantwell boycotted the Senate Finance Committee vote on Munchin’s nomination after he denied indisputable information that OneWest Bank engaged in robo-signing foreclosure documents under his leadership, despite reports to the contrary. Senate Finance Committee Republicans broke committee rules to force through the nominations.

Cantwell also spoke to Mnuchin’s opposition to reinstating Glass-Steagall – a depression-era law protecting American consumers from Wall Street’s reckless behavior.

“I saw last summer the debate between the Democratic and Republican platforms in which the Republican platform actually started to embrace Glass-Steagall. They had a campaign and they had a presidential candidate and they certainly had a presidential campaign manager who were all embracing it and touting it,” said Cantwell. “But now I see that it was nothing more than a cynical ploy to try to convince the American people that somehow the Trump administration was really going to be on the side of the main street against Wall Street.”

Cantwell supports re-instating Glass-Steagall, which reduces risk for the American taxpayer in the financial system and decreases the likelihood of future financial crises. In the 115th Congress, Cantwell introduced the bipartisan 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John McCain (R-AZ), and Angus King (I-ME).

A full transcript of Senator Cantwell’s floor remarks here.