Lew Nomination Prompts Calls for More Regulatory-minded Appointments

Obama’s nomination of Jack Lew as Treasury Secretary has prompted added pressure from his own party to fill out the rest of the department with more regulatory-minded options.

Neal Wolin is expected to step down from his role as the deputy secretary of the Treasury, which is the No. 2 spot in the department, leaving an important vacancy. The position as chairman and head of the Securities Exchange Commission also has to be filled.

Regulatory hawks are pushing the administration to fill these roles with candidates dedicated to completing the implementation of Dodd-Frank.

Lew’s appointment showed an emphasis on budget matters from the White House, as Lew has admitted he “doesn’t consider himself an expert in some aspects of the financial industry” and that he does not think “deregulation of Wall Street caused the financial collapse of 2008.”

“The six largest financial institutions have assets worth $9 trillion, two-thirds the GDP of the United States. I think people understand that the Fed does not regulate Wall Street but Wall Street regulates the Fed,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), a liberal independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Bloomberg has reported that Ruth Porat, chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley is being considered for deputy secretary.

Meanwhile, The Hill speculates that a financial sector-friendly choice for deputy secretary of the Treasury would be Louis Susman, a former vice chairman at Citigroup Global Markets who served as finance chairman for Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Other options that have been floated are Sheila Bair, the former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or Neil Barofsky, who oversaw the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.