Senate taxwriters advance nominees for Treasury posts
The Senate Finance Committee on June 9 approved four of President Biden’s nominations for key Treasury Department positions, including Lily Batchelder to serve as Treasury assistant secretary for tax policy and Jonathan Davidson to serve as Treasury assistant secretary for legislative affairs. Both have held senior roles on Capitol Hill and assisted with the Biden administration’s transition process. (For coverage of their confirmation hearing before the panel, see Tax News & Views, Vol. 22, No. 27, May 28, 2021.)
Batchelder, whose nomination was approved by a vote of 22-6, is currently a tax law professor at New York University, where her work focuses on personal income taxes, wealth transfer taxes, business tax reform, retirement savings, social insurance, and the effects of fiscal policy on economic insecurity, income disparities, and intergenerational mobility.
After time in tax law practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and a previous stint at NYU, Batchelder spent 2010 to 2015 in Washington first as the Democrats’ chief tax counsel at the Senate Finance Committee under then-Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and then as deputy director of the White House National Economic Council and deputy assistant to President Obama.
Davidson, who was approved by a vote of 28-0, has spent more than two decades working in the Senate, where he currently serves as chief of staff to Finance Committee member Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Previously, he was chief of staff to then-Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., and chief counsel to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
During the Biden administration’s transition, Batchelder headed up the IRS transition team and Davidson led the economic nominations confirmation team.
Senate taxwriters also approved the nominations of J. Nellie Liang (24-4) to be undersecretary of domestic finance, and Ben Harris (28-0) to be assistant secretary for economic policy.
Batchelder, Davidson, Liang, and Harris now await final confirmation votes by the full Senate. Timing of the confirmation votes was not clear at press time.
30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112-0015 United States
About Deloitte Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
