NEW YORK — Antonio Weiss, the Wall Street banker who President Barack Obama had picked to be the third-ranking official at the Treasury Department, has asked that the president not resend his nomination to the Senate following a major backlash from progressive Democrats who questioned his ties to the financial industry, POLITICO has learned.
Obama accepted the decision, which Weiss conveyed in a letter to the president over the weekend. But the Lazard banker will still join the administration in the position of counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, which does not require Senate confirmation.
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“Avoiding the public Senate confirmation process and installing Mr. Weiss in a very senior position at the Treasury Department is unfortunate for the American people,” said Dennis Kelleher, head of pro-reform group Better Markets. “The country would benefit from an open, public debate about the Wall Street-centric view that what is good for Wall Street is really good for America.”
Read the full article by Ben White here.
