Finance

Senate Democrats delay vote on Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee

steven mnuchinTreasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin.Pool/Getty Images

Senate Democrats on the Finance Committee used a parliamentary procedure to delay a vote on President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Democrats rejected a vote to extend the Finance Committee’s meeting beyond two hours, which would have enabled a vote originally planned for 6 p.m. ET Monday.

The committee will reconvene on Tuesday for the vote.

“While not surprising, this is an unfortunate and needless delay that simply means the Committee will reconvene tomorrow morning to vote on the nominee for U.S. Treasury Secretary,” read a statement from the office of Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who leads the Finance Committee.

According to Hatch’s office, the vote will take place at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday — at the same time as a vote on the nomination of Tom Price as secretary of Health and Human Services.

The vote was pushed back the same day The Columbus Dispatch reported that Mnuchin told apparent falsehoods during his congressional testimony. Mnuchin denied that a mortgage lender, OneWest, his hedge fund, owned used robo signatures for foreclosures.

The Dispatch reported that close to 50 foreclosures in Franklin County, Ohio, showed a pattern of robo-signatures. Additionally, the Dispatch said at least one case was thrown out of court due to illegal robo signatures.

The investigation found that most of the cases around Columbus, Ohio were signed by 11 people from Texas saying they were vice presidents, assistant vice presidents, and more.

According to a court testimony from OneWest vice president Erica Johnson-Seck reviewed by the Dispatch, she signed off on an average of 750 foreclosures a week and a company policy said that only 10% of foreclosure documents were to be reviewed. The testimony was given in June 2009.

Mnuchin helped lead the acquisition of the lender, then called IndyMac, in 2009.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle slammed Mnuchin for the mortgage lending practices of IndyMac and OneWest.

Mnuchin must pass the vote in committee and a vote before the whole Senate in order to be confirmed.

Read the full Columbus Dispatch report here »

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