Published on Sep 22, 2016
During a speech at the Center For American Progress on September 21, 2016, Elizabeth Warren clearly outlined the kind of appointees she expects to be part of the potential Clinton Administration
Progressives Want Say on Filling Administration Posts If Hillary Clinton Wins
Groups vow to block any candidates they consider too close to industry or Wall Street
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is part of an effort to advance officials likely to push progressive economic policies in any Clinton administration. PHOTO: MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES
Progressive groups and labor unions are assembling a list of vetted candidates for top posts in a potential Clinton administration, vowing at the same time to block any they consider too close to industry or Wall Street.
The campaign sets the stage for a potentially bitter battle among factions of the Democratic Party as allies of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren try to pull the party to the left before and after the November election.
“When we talk about personnel, we don’t mean advisers who just pay lip service to Hillary’s bold agenda, coupled with a sigh, a knowing glance, and the twiddling of thumbs until it’s time for the next swing through the revolving door, serving government and then going back to the very same industries they regulate,” Mrs. Warren said Wednesday in a speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
“We don’t need Citigroup or Morgan Stanley or BlackRock getting to choose who runs the economy in this country so that they can capture our government,” she said.
The strategy builds on efforts by Mrs. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and other progressives to block Obama administration nominees seen as too close to big business. The group claimed a win in 2015 when its opposition to Antonio Weiss because of his Wall Street ties led him to withdraw from consideration for a key Treasury Department post.
The position was never filled and Mr. Weiss has served as a counselor to the Treasury secretary.
The groups say they plan to present their candidates to Mrs. Clinton’s transition team, should she win the November election, in a bid to fill her administration with officials they believe will implement progressive economic policies.
“We are trying to be helpful by finding well-qualified people with the skills and experiences to step into jobs that are critical to leveling the economic playing field,” said Marcus Mrowka, a spokesman for the Roosevelt Institute, a New York think tank that has played a central part in the push.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment on the effort.
About six months ago, Mrs. Warren and other progressives began focusing on the next administration with informal discussions among groups including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Consumers Union and MoveOn.org. Senior officials at labor unions such as the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers, have also been involved.
Among those they favor for top administration posts are Gary Gensler, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair,Sarah Bloom Raskin, currently a deputy Treasury Secretary, and current Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
The groups also say they want to have a list of credible alternatives if Mrs. Clinton considers tapping nominees they oppose, citing their ties to Wall Street firms. One person they could oppose is Tom Nides,who was a top aide to Mrs. Clinton at the State Department before he joined Morgan Stanley. Mr. Nides declined to comment.
Progressive groups appear to be split on Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, who has been rumored to be under consideration for Treasury secretary. A Fed spokesman declined to comment on her behalf.
On the Republican side, Conservative groups don’t appear to have begun any similar effort to identify potential nominees if Donald Trump were to win the election.
The next president will appoint over 4,000 individuals to serve in the administration, from White House chief of staff to deputy undersecretaries at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. Roughly 120 of those posts are responsible in some way for the economy, according to the Roosevelt Institute.
The positions that progressive groups are targeting include Treasury Secretary and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as lower-profile roles such as assistant secretary for financial markets at Treasury and chief counsel for advocacy at the Small Business Administration.
The groups have had at least one meeting with Mrs. Clinton’s transition team and are planning additional meetings.
Progressives say they are motivated by a belief that President Barack Obama relied too heavily on former Wall Street executives to serve in economic positions. The groups say appointment of those officials made it harder to enact a progressive agency and resulted in long delays to the implementation of some of the regulations they championed as part of the Dodd-Frank financial-services overhaul in 2010.
For example, progressive groups pushed hard for a regulation enacted as part of the financial regularly bill that would cap the compensation of chief executives. The regulation took five years to be enacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The basic point is to try and increase skepticism that someone who has made a lot of money in the private sector automatically means they are well-suited to senior government positions, specifically if they’re being asked to regulate the industries they came from,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project, a group that promotes progressive administration appointments overseeing economic and financial regulation.
Mr. Hauser listed several potential nominees that the group would protest, including Blair Effron, the founder of investment firm Centerview Partners, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Robert Hormats, a former State Department official who has also worked for Wall Street firms.
Other groups and unions have been discussing potential nominees for other administration posts. MoveOn.org, for example, is keeping an eye on candidates for positions that oversee foreign policy and criminal justice.
“I would be more than happy to talk to any group about my record and positions I advocate,” said Mr. Hormats, who worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. eight years ago.
Mr. Fink declined to comment and Mr. Effron didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Nick Berning, a MoveOn.org spokesman, said the group will support nominees “who’ve stood up to powerful interests and fought for the public interest” and will “oppose and prevent the confirmation of nominees who fail to meet that standard.”
Every Voice, an advocacy organization to limit the role of money in politics, is focusing on positions with influence over lobbying and election campaigns, such as commissioners for the Federal Election Commission and Federal Communications Commission, according to Rahna Epting, the group’s chief of staff.
