Housing Crisis A Primary Area Of Focus During Mnuchin’s Confirmation
Thursday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin focused largely on his investments connected to the foreclosure crisis.
Many senators are wary of Mnuchin managing the country's finances, and say the investment strategies he used during the housing crisis allowed him to profit on the foreclosure of thousands of struggling homeowners after striking a loss-sharing deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mnuchin defended his experience as an investment banker, saying he never took advantage of others’ hardships to personally profit.
The hearing focused much less on policy than on Mnuchin defending himself and OneWest’s record, leaving most of his policy positions unknown — save that the Goldman Sachs veteran is pushing to remove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control. [WSJ]
