Street Vet Tapped for Treasury GSE Post

President Bush has nominated former Goldman Sachs vice chairman Robert K. Steel to oversee domestic finance and government-sponsored enterprise matters at the Treasury Department.Mr. Steel would replace Treasury Under Secretary Randal Quarles, who announced earlier this summer his plans to step down when Congress adjourns for the year. The nomination comes at a time when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is trying to encourage senators to find a legislative solution to the stalemate over a GSE regulatory reform bill that would force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce or limit the size of their giant mortgage portfolios. Mr. Steel worked at the Goldman Sachs Group with Mr. Paulson, who was the chairman and chief executive. The nominee is a senior fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.