Trump adds a fifth Goldman Sachs banker to administration

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 15: U.S. President Donald Trump walks to a waiting Marine One helicopter while departing the White House on March 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump is scheduled to travel to Michigan and Tennessee today. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump attacked Ted Cruz as a “puppet” of the Goldman Sachs investment bank, using wife Heidi’s employment with the firm as a weapon against them. He used a similar line of attack on Hillary Clinton, whom he said was “owned” by Wall Street.

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But as president, Donald Trump is far less apprehensive about the firm, having now appointed a fifth Goldman Sachs alum to a powerful post in his administration. Jim Donovan, who’s worked at Goldman for 20 years, has been appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Department. He reports to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who also worked for Goldman Sachs.

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According to CNN Money, Donovan’s responsibilities include revamping the tax code and eliminating rules and regulations, especially the Dodd-Frank Act. Those laws were passed during the Obama years to keep catastrophes like the Great Recession from happening again.

In addition to Donovan and Mnuchin, other former Goldman Sachs staffers include Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives Dina Powell.

In addition to the above employees of Goldman Sachs, Jay Clayton, who represented Goldman for years as a partner at law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, has been nominated to be the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates banks and financial institutions like Goldman Sachs.

In a January press conference, Press Secretary Sean Spicer reacted to criticism of Trump’s Cabinet picks, saying, “The number one thing that I think Americans should focus on is, ‘Is he hiring the best and the brightest? Is he hiring people that are committed to enacting real change?'”

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