Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s efforts to fill out the top ranks of the department were dealt a setback as a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker withdrew from consideration to serve as his deputy.
Jim Donovan cited personal reasons for declining President Donald Trump’s nomination to be the next deputy Treasury secretary.
“At this time I want to focus on my family, and I can no longer accept it,” Donovan said in statement on Friday. “I hope to be able to serve this administration in the future and fully support President Trump and Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s ongoing work to reform the tax system and grow the U.S. economy.”
The decision could impede Mnuchin’s effort to deliver an ambitious economic agenda including an historic tax overhaul this year, de-regulation of the financial industry and reform of the housing finance system. Donovan was an “enormous asset” in helping build Mnuchin’s team at the