How a Hillary Superfan Ended Up Inside Trump’s Treasury

As a member of Hillary Clinton’s national finance committee, a distinction reserved for those who raised at least $100,000 for her presidential bid, Craig Phillips qualified as a Hillary superfan, or a “Hillblazer” in the words of the campaign. A former BlackRock Inc. executive, Phillips had told friends and colleagues he hoped to get a political appointment at the Treasury Department, parlaying his big donations into a big job in Washington. His plan half-worked. Phillips is indeed working at the Treasury; it’s just that his boss is Donald Trump, and his job is totally different from what it would’ve been under Clinton.

Phillips is leading Treasury’s review of how to roll back financial regulations, a policy move opposed by Democrats. He’s also one of a handful of people hired by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the first two months of the Trump administration. While Phillips’s views on the rules that were piled on the banking industry after the 2008 financial crisis aren’t clear (he wouldn’t comment for this story), conservatives inside and outside the government are surprised he got the job, given his political leanings. A Treasury spokesman says Mnuchin is confident Phillips supports the administration’s economic policy goals, adding that he “is a key member of our team.”