Antonio Weiss Pulls Treasury Nomination After Warren Attack
A Wall Street executive whose nomination to a high-level Treasury Department post triggered a showdown between the White House and Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly withdrew his name from contention Monday, giving her a major political victory.
The liberal Massachusetts lawmaker last year defied the White House and launched a bare-knuckle attack against Antonio Weiss, an investment banker President Obama nominated for undersecretary for domestic finance. The battle was seen as a crucial test for the Democratic Party’s liberal wing, which has rallied around Warren’s populist, anti-Wall Street rhetoric.
Weiss, in a letter to the president this past weekend, said the department would not be “well served by the lengthy confirmation process my renomination would likely entail.”
Weiss, who spent decades at the investment firm Lazard, will still work closely with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew as an appointed adviser who does not require confirmation. This allows him to serve in a more limited capacity without a months-long, intra-party fight.
More: Antonio Weiss Pulls Treasury Nomination After Warren Attack - Nation - the Boston Globe