Donald Trump and Mitt Romney will meet for a second time Tuesday
amid a messy—and unusually public—debate over who should get the
nation's top diplomatic post as secretary of state in the Trump
White House.
The president-elect also is preparing to announce his pick for
Treasury secretary as early as the end of the week, a person close
to the transition team said Monday, and deliberations are turning
to candidates to lead the Veterans Administration.
Finalists for the Treasury job include Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.,
Texas), who heads the House Financial Services Committee; Steven
Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker and prominent
Trump campaign supporter; and John A. Allison IV, who built one of
the largest regional banks, BB&T, a transition official
said.
Mr. Allison arrived at Trump Tower in New York late Monday
afternoon for a meeting with Mr. Trump.
The shift to the top economic posts, which have been
overshadowed by the internal fight over the secretary-of-state
position, signals that the administration-in-waiting is seeking to
get back on to its relatively brisk track.
"It's going to be a busy week. Get ready. Buckle up," Vice
President-elect Mike Pence told reporters Monday morning in the
lobby of Trump Tower, before getting into an elevator to head up to
the transition's New York hub. Late Monday, he said "there will be
a number of very important announcements tomorrow."
Mr. Romney's return is a sign that he remains in serious
contention for the plum cabinet post despite fierce resistance from
Trump loyalists who haven't forgiven him for his blistering attacks
on Mr. Trump during the campaign.
He is due to speak to Mr. Trump on Tuesday, part of a procession
of job candidates coming to Trump Tower. Also in the diplomatic mix
is Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor; David Petraeus, a retired
four-star general; and Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), who heads the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Mr. Petraeus met with the president-elect Monday and Mr. Corker
is scheduled to meet with him on Tuesday.
Mr. Trump tweeted: "Just met with General Petraeus—was very
impressed!"
Kellyanne Conway, who managed Mr. Trump's campaign, has used
Twitter and television appearances to make the case that Mr.
Romney's condemnation of Mr. Trump during the campaign should
disqualify him from the coveted cabinet slot.
In March, when Mr. Trump was the front-runner for the GOP
nomination, Mr. Romney said in a speech that Mr. Trump "is a phony,
a fraud."
Appearing on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Ms. Conway said Mr.
Romney "went way out of his way to hurt Donald Trump."
People familiar with the matter said that Ms. Conway wasn't
freelancing in criticizing Mr. Romney, and that she wouldn't make
statements contrary to Mr. Trump's wishes.
Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law who is also a close
confident to the president-elect, is said to be an advocate for Mr.
Romney. Mr. Pence is supportive of either Mr. Romney or Mr.
Giuliani, one transition adviser said.
A complication for Mr. Petraeus is that last year he pleaded
guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified
information, in a case involving material he supplied to his former
mistress and biographer. The secretary-of-state position requires
Senate confirmation.
Ryan Williams, who was a spokesman for Mr. Romney's 2012
presidential campaign, said Mr. Trump "deserves a lot of credit for
even considering him for a job in his administration."
While the team mulls their options for the nation's top
diplomat, Mr. Trump is set to announce additional cabinet choices
this week, transition officials said. They said he could announce
his treasury and commerce secretary nominations by week's end.
Treasury finalist Mr. Allison is a former chief executive of a
libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, who has in the past
called for abolishing the Federal Reserve.
A selling point for Mr. Allison, one transition official said,
is that when the federal government bailed out struggling banks
amid the 2008 financial crisis, Mr. Allison as head of BB&T
took the position that bad banks should fail.
BB&T took a loan from the government, something Mr. Allison
attributed to government pressure.
For the commerce secretary position, the front-runner is
billionaire investor Wilbur Ross Jr., a transition official
said.
Rep. Jeff Miller (R., Fla.) is often mentioned as a candidate by
lawmakers and veteran advocacy groups for the VA job. He currently
heads the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, where he has been an
agitator for changes in the operation. He announced earlier this
year he wouldn't seek re-election and was an early supporter of Mr.
Trump. He endorsed the New York businessman in April.
Mr. Miller has expressed interest in the VA job, saying in an
interview months ago at the Republican National Convention that he
wouldn't refuse the position if offered it.
In addition, Pete Hegseth, former CEO of Concerned Veterans for
America, a conservative veterans' interest group, will meet with
Mr. Trump on Tuesday to discuss the position, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Both the congressman and Mr. Hegseth have advocated for veterans
to have more choice in health-care providers and to more easily be
allowed to go outside of the VA hospital system for care, something
critics have said is a push toward privatization that would make
the department an insurance provider.
Both have also criticized the department for not firing
underperforming employees, something current VA Secretary Bob
McDonald has said he is doing to the extent of his authority.
An aide to Mr. Miller said he is currently focused on his job as
congressman. Mr. Hegseth couldn't be reached for comment.
Ben Kesling, Michael C. Bender, Monica Langley, Christina
Rexrode and Rachel Louise Ensign contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 28, 2016 20:45 ET (01:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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