Team Warren picked up a win in the fight to keep Wall Street insiders out of Washington this week.
Antonio Weiss was up for a top-ranking position at the Treasury Department, but has now asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats had attacked Obama’s pick saying that it would be yet another instance of putting Wall Street regulation in the hands of Wall Street.
Weiss, head of global investment banking at Lazard, withdrew his nomination because he does not want the Treasury to have to go through the lengthy confirmation process that it would entail, his spokeswoman said.
As an undersecretary, Weiss would have been tasked with overseeing U.S. banks and financial regulations.
“The risk of another financial crisis remains too high, and we should be strengthening financial reforms, not rolling them back to benefit Wall Street,” Warren said Monday in a statement.
The senator from Massachusetts has a lot of supporters from the left who view the news as a victory.
“The last thing the Treasury Department needed was another Wall Street Banker in a key policy position,” said Murshed Zaheed at CREDO, a progressive advocacy group.
But, Weiss isn’t completely losing out. He was offered and has accepted a position as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. It’s a role that doesn’t require confirmation by the Senate.
Weiss will advise on a range of domestic and international issues, including financial markets, regulatory reform, job creation, and economic growth, Lew said in a statement.
