Mnuchin Feuding With White House Adviser Over Tax Reform

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is clashing with White House adviser Shahira Knight over tax cuts, Politico reports. 

Knight works for the National Economic Council, and is the top White House official on taxes, but in recent months she's begun feuding with Mnuchin and other officials at the Treasury Department.

"She is the leading person who combines the trust of the political appointees with technical knowledge, and it is clear that she is speaking to the highest levels," a former Treasury official told Politico.

"Frankly, she is one of the few people that the political people can talk to with the knowledge that she is on their side."

"She will be quick to point out how difficult tax reform will be. She is not some Art Laffer right-wing nut," a former GOP congressional staffer told Politico. "She will ask, ‘How are we going to pay for this?' And she will be one of the first ones to say this."

According to Politico's Nancy Cook, "Knight and Mnuchin have disagreed more recently and with some frequency over the best way to pay for tax cuts."

Specifically, "Mnuchin does not like the idea of scrapping businesses' ability to deduct interest… while Knight views it as a way to offset tax cuts without adding to the deficit."

Despite her battles with Treasury officials, Knight is a welcome sight in Washington for her ability to "translate the administration's more general discussion of taxes," according to one former Democratic congressional aide.

"The president at the beginning talked about tax policy in a way we were unaccustomed to," the aide said. "She showed up and everyone breathed a sigh of relief."

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