Trump Chooses Billionaire Wilbur Ross for Commerce Job
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, an architect of the Trump campaign’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, is intended to be the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Commerce during his administration.
“Ross is a champion of American manufacturing and knows how to help companies succeed. Most importantly, he is one of the greatest negotiators I have ever met,” President-elect Donald Trump said, via social media Nov. 30.
“Wilbur knows that cutting taxes for working families, reducing burdensome government regulations and unleashing America's energy resources will strengthen our economy at a time when our country needs to see significant growth,” Trump added.
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In a statement the Trump transition team provided, Ross is quoted as saying he is eager to “implement the economic programs which we have developed jointly to implement the president-elect's strategy for accelerating our economic growth.”
According to a profile in Forbes magazine, Ross led Rothschild Inc.’s bankruptcy practice for 25 years. In 2000, he started WL Ross & Co., an investment firm.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) praised Trump’s intention to nominate Ross.
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“Ross will bring exceptional real-world business experience to the Department of Commerce as part of an administration that emphasizes job creation and the economy. I welcome the president-elect’s choice and expect the Senate Commerce Committee will expeditiously consider this nomination once the new Congress begins in January,” Thune said.
If the Senate confirms Ross, he would succeed Penny Pritzker.
Less than two weeks before the elections, Ross, and economist Peter Navarro, unveiled a paper for the Trump campaign, in which they proposed investing $1 trillion over 10 years by providing $137 billion in tax credits to investors looking to build large-scale projects. Trump indicated he would present the Ross/Navarro plan to Congress during his first 100 days, promising that it would create millions of jobs.
In an interview with The New York Times after the elections, Trump scaled back on the Ross/Navarro proposal, saying, “I think I am doing things that are more important than infrastructure.”
Republican leaders in Congress, such as Thune, have not endorsed Trump’s plan.
