President Barack Obama’s controversial and embattled Treasury Secretary nominee Jack Lew is coming under increasing scrutiny for having possibly broken federal law by failing to warn Congress about a Medicare funding problem during his tenure as the former director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). CNN calls the latest round of inquiry, “the most serious of accusations.”
One of those leading the charge against Lew’s nomination is Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee Jeff Sessions (R-AL). On Tuesday, Sessions blasted Lew, calling him a “clear danger to our economy and the to the working people of this country.” In a statement, Sessions said:
Jack Lew must never be Treasury Secretary. He made a series of false representations to Congress and to the American people in a deliberate effort to deceive. The man charged with safeguarding the Treasury of the United States cannot be someone who has so thoroughly ruined his own credibility. We must have a person who, when speaking of America’s financial condition, will be totally candid.
Sessions also took Lew to task for allegedly violated the so-called Medicare Trigger law. “Our Treasury Secretary cannot be a man who, for nearly three years, contributed to the violation of a law designed to protect our nation’s seniors.”
Liberals are also unhappy with the Lew selection for the top job at Treasury. Self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says he plans to oppose Obama’s nominee for Treasury Secretary.
At a time when the middle class is collapsing and millions of workers are unemployed, I do not believe he is the right person at the right time to serve in this important position…As a supporter of the president, I remain extremely concerned that virtually all of his key economic advisers have come from Wall Street. In my view, we need a treasury secretary who is prepared to stand up to corporate America and their powerful lobbyists and fight for policies that protect the working families in our country. I do not believe Mr. Lew is that person.
Sanders’s reference to Wall Street refers to Jack Lew’s short stint at Citigroup wherein he bagged a nearly $950,000 bonus just days after the bank received billions in a taxpayer-funded bailout.
“As these and other matters are explored, including his enriching time at Citigroup, I believe Mr. Lew will have a difficult confirmation,” says Sen. Sessions.