White House economic aide and nominee for trade representative Michael Froman holds around $500,000 in the Cayman Islands and earned millions after divesting himself from Wall Street accounts that rely on a tax loophole the current administration has been trying to close, the New York Times reports.
It is not clear whether Mr. Froman’s holdings will seriously damage his chance at confirmation. But they could put Democrats in a difficult position. Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio and an economic populist, said he already was prepared to ask Mr. Froman tough questions about administration trade policies he does not like, especially efforts to expand trade agreements around the Pacific Rim.
Sen. Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, the Finance Committee chairman, was less than effusive in his defense of Mr. Froman.
"Frankly it doesn’t bother me in the sense that he apparently didn’t break any laws anywhere, but it does highlight the need for tax reform," he said.
While Froman has not broken any laws, his holdings highlight the inability of the Obama administration to close the "carried interest loophole."