Time Asia — October 10, 2017

TIME October 9, 2017

The Brief

a successful Goldman Sachs veteran turned
Hollywood producer with a nine-figure net worth.
He entered Donald Trump’s orbit in April 2016
as his national finance chairman and then, weeks
after Trump’s victory, was nominated for the top
spot at Treasury more for his personal ties with the
President than his financial background. The job
of Treasury Secretary is chiefly to be a Washington
horse whisperer to the financial markets, to calm
their nerves and guide their moves in accordance
with Administration needs. At first things went
well. Mnuchin won an early battle with Gary Cohn,
a fellow ex-Goldman employee who is the director
of the National Economic Council, to become the
public face of tax reform. But that proved to be a
mixed blessing. In impromptu fashion on April 21,
Trump told the Associated Press that Mnuchin
would announce details on tax reform the following
week. The one-page plan hastily drawn up to meet
Trump’s surprise deadline proved to be even more
amorphous than his campaign pledges.
Mnuchin’s unforced errors would soon make
matters worse. In June, Trump and much of the
West Wing and Cabinet attended Mnuchin’s black-
tie wedding to Scottish actor Louise Linton. Senior
Administration aides in attendance commented
on the affair’s opulence for days. That set the stage
for increasing allegations by Administration critics
and government watchdogs of extravagance.
The Treasury Department’s inspector general is
reviewing Mnuchin and his wife’s Aug. 21 flight
on an Air Force jet to Fort Knox, Ky., where they
were photographed watching the total eclipse of
the sun. It is also examining Mnuchin’s request,
later withdrawn, to use an Air Force plane for his
European honeymoon over the summer. (Mnuchin
explained that he made the request to ensure that he
had secure communications with the White House.)
The job of selling a tax-reform package that
would seem to bust open the deficit to provide
massive corporate tax breaks isn’t going to get
any easier. It hardly resonates with Trump’s
populist promises, and while the President went
on offense, touting the plan at a rally in Indiana
the day it was released, behind the scenes he is
adding to the workload. In the days before the
plan’s release, Trump raised concerns that some of
the provisions—especially the corporate tax cut—
didn’t go far enough, according to a White House
official. He continued pushing for a 15% corporate
tax rate after the so-called big six Republican
negotiators had long ago set it aside for 20%.
All of which helps explain why Republicans on
the Hill, starving for a legislative win, will soon
take control of tax reform themselves through
the committee process. Where that leaves Steven
Mnuchin is unclear, but at this point, he shouldn’t
expect many tips. □

1,

Estimated number

of unpaid parking

tickets that North

Korea’s diplomatic

mission to the U.N.

has in New York City,

according to reports;

the fines date

back to the 1990s

and total about

$156,

DIGITS

TICKER

Weiner sentenced

over sexts

Former New York

congressman Anthony

Weiner was sentenced

to 21 months in prison

for sending sexually

explicit messages

to a 15-year-old girl.

Past sexting scandals

had already destroyed

Weiner’s career in

Washington and his

campaign to be mayor

of New York City.

Macron pitches for

stronger E.U.

French President

Emmanuel Macron laid

out a blueprint for how

to reform the European

Union in a speech seen

as a challenge to the

regional leadership

of Germany’s Angela

Merkel. Macron called

for greater military and

economic integration

so that the bloc could

compete with the U.S.

and China.

McCain: My cancer

is “very serious”

In an interview on

CBS’s60 Minutes,

Arizona Senator John

McCain said his brain

cancer was “very, very

serious” and added

that his prognosis was

“very poor.” McCain

revealed that he had

glioblastoma in July.

Target to raise

minimum wage

Target is raising its

minimum hourly wage

to $11 per hour, up

from $10. The discount

retailer, which has

323,000 employees

worldwide, also

committed to raising

the wage to $15 by the

end of 2020.

TRANSPORTATION

Saudi women in the

driver’s seat

On Sept. 26, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman lifted

a ban on female drivers, reversing a long-held

tradition of the patriarchy.—Tara John

GREEN LIGHT

Women have been forbidden from driving

in Saudi Arabia for decades, with offenders

fined, jailed or even beaten. But beginning

next summer, licenses will be issued to

any woman who applies for one, with no

need for permission from a male guardian.

The announcement follows decades of

civil disobedience by female protesters

demanding the right to drive.

CHANGING GEARS

The change of policy comes as Crown

Prince Mohammed bin Salman attempts to

modernize and diversify the kingdom’s oil-

reliant economy. Boosting the workforce with

women is his ultimate goal. But moves toward

gender equality risk riling conservative Saudi

clerics, who adhere to a rigidly patriarchal

interpretation of Sunni Islamic teachings.

STUCK IN REVERSE

Licenses are a step in the right direction, but

the kingdom still subjects women to plenty

of other stringent rules. They are bound by a

restrictive dress code, and guardianship laws

give male relatives the right to prevent their

wives, sisters or daughters from doing basic

tasks like traveling, opening a bank account or

having certain medical procedures.

DRIVER: FAISAL AL NASSER—REUTERS; METER: F8IMAGING/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; MOSQUITO: JAMES GATHANY—CDC/SMITH COLLECTION/GA

DO/GETTY IMAGES