Trump Faces Treasury-Sized Hole in Cabinet as He Ponders Choices
(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump’s evolving cabinet has a crucial gap as he has yet to land on a Treasury secretary to spearhead his campaign pledge to remake the economy.
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Trump is scheduled to meet with former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh in the next day or two, according to people familiar with the matter. A duel between the previous top candidates — hedge fund manager Scott Bessent and Cantor Fitzgerald LP Chief Executive Officer Howard Lutnick — bled into public view and cast the process for determining a Treasury chief into chaos.
Lutnick is in consideration to lead the Commerce Department, according to people familiar. A request for comment from the Trump transition team wasn’t immediately returned.
The president-elect’s transition team had been rolling out a flurry of cabinet-level and senior staff positions in the aftermath of his sweeping Nov. 5 electoral victory, but that’s slowed to a drip with Trump having yet to pick a chief economic officer. His principle campaign pledges focused on the economy and immigration, two of the top issues among voters.
The public tussling between Bessent and Lutnick over the Treasury job prompted his allies to seek other candidates to fill the coveted cabinet post, according to people familiar with the matter. Apollo Global Management Inc. CEO Marc Rowan is also under consideration for Treasury, people said. Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty is also in the mix for the post.
Warsh, 54, has largely stayed out of the public eye in recent weeks, a strategy that contrasts with Bessent and Lutnick who have given TV interviews and racked up public endorsements from Trump allies. Warsh did not respond to a request to comment.
Trump’s team has refrained from announcing any of the other core economic jobs while the Treasury search continues. The transition team is looking to build a cohesive economic policy roster, which also includes the director of the National Economic Council, the US Trade Representative, a Commerce Department chief and the head of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Bessent discussed both the NEC and Treasury posts with Trump last week, according to people familiar.
Vince Haley, a top Trump campaign official, is a contender to lead the Domestic Policy Council, a key White House policy-making position, according to people familiar with the process.
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