Steven Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross Expected as Trump’s Picks for Treasury, Commerce Heads

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name his former campaign finance chief Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary and investor Wilbur Ross as Commerce secretary as early as tomorrow, a top transition source confirms to NBC News.

The picks will add two billionaire businessmen to a cabinet that’s thus far largely been filled out by Washington lawmakers and political insiders.
On Wednesday, Trump announced plans nominate of Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price as head of Health and Human Services, and Elaine Chao, who was Labor Secretary under George W. Bush, as Transportation Secretary.

In contrast, Mnuchin and Ross, though active in political fundraising, have no government experience.

Mnuchin spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs, ultimately rising to partner before leaving to start his own hedge fund and launching a production company that bankrolled Hollywood hits like Avatar and American Sniper. Then a relatively unknown banker, Mnuchin became Trump’s finance chairman in May and helped the real-estate mogul raise millions for his campaign

As Treasury secretary, Mnuchin would oversee the nation’s financial regulations, monetary and tax policy. Trump has pledged on the campaign trail to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform act and cut the corporate tax rate, but Mnuchin kept a low profile during the campaign and his own policy views are unclear. During confirmation hearings, however, he could face questions over his role in running a bank that reportedly foreclosed on tens of thousands of homeowners in California following the housing crisis.

Both Mnuchin and Ross are a longtime Democratic donors, but they each came out early in support of Trump during this election cycle. The president-elect recently called Ross “my friend for a long time.”The Commerce secretary typically serves as the government’s liaison to the business world and oversees a vast bureaucracy, including the Census Bureau, the Patent Office and implementation of the nation’s trade laws.

That may explain in part why Trump is expected to select Ross for the role — like the president-elect, Ross has been an outspoken critic of free trade agreements, telling CNBC earlier this year that they’re harmful to average Americans.

“I think there’s a big difference between the impact of trade agreements on corporate America and the impact on Mr. and Mrs. America,” he said. “Corporate America has adjusted to them by investing lots of capital offshore. … What we’re doing is we’re exporting jobs and importing products, instead of exporting products and keeping jobs.”

Ross also fits the profile that Trump previously said he wants in his administration: A business leader, Ross made billions restructuring failed companies and was known particularly for his work in the coal and steel companies — two industries that Trump promised to revive on the campaign trail.

But that work could pose challenges for him in a confirmation hearing as well — Ross was implicated in the 2006 Sago mine disaster in Sago, West Virginia, that resulted in the deaths of a dozen miners due in part to overlooked safety concerns. The mine was owned by a subsidiary of one of Ross’ companies, and he acknowledged at the time having been aware of potential safety issues in the mine.