Trump picks Ken Kies for key tax policy job at Treasury ahead of tax cuts push

Yi Wei Wong and Laura Davison, Bloomberg News on Jan 2, 2025

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President-elect Donald J. Trump has announced members of his senior leadership team at the Treasury Department, who’ll work alongside Scott Bessent, his pick for secretary.

Ken Kies will be assistant secretary for tax policy, placing him as a point person at the Treasury Department working on tax cuts Trump has touted as a signature policy issue for 2025. Kies is a longtime Republican tax lobbyist whose client list has included Microsoft Corp., insurers and financial services groups.

Samantha Schwab, granddaughter of billionaire Charles Schwab, will be deputy chief of staff and work under Daniel Katz of the Manhattan Institute, who will be chief of staff. Katz was a senior adviser at the Treasury during Trump’s first term, the president-elect said in a post on his Truth Social platform Thursday night. Schwab worked for the first Trump administration in the office of legislative affairs. Charles Schwab contributed $1 million to Trump’s 2017 inaugural fundraising committee.

Cora Alvi, who was a national deputy finance director for Trump’s presidential campaign, will also be a deputy chief of staff.

Republicans face a year-end deadline to extend many of the tax cuts passed in Trump’s first term. Absent congressional action, taxes on many households and small businesses will increase next year. Trump has also vowed to enact fresh tax cuts for corporations and eliminate levies on tips, overtime pay and Social Security payments, major changes that could add trillions of dollars to the deficit.

Other names announced include:

—Alexandra Preate as senior counselor to the Treasury secretary

—Hunter McMaster as director of policy planning

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(With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.)

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