Sen. Elizabeth Warren's, D-Mass., success in defeating President Barack Obama's pick for a prominent position in the Treasury Department is symptomatic of Washington's attitude toward would-be wealthy government appointees, Evercore Partners' CEO told CNBC on Friday.
"Since the financial crisis, anyone who has had success in the financial community has in fairness been walking around Washington with a target on their front and their back," Ralph Schlosstein said in a "Squawk Box" interview.
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Obama had nominated Antonio Weiss, head of investment banking at Lazard, to serve as deputy undersecretary for domestic finance. However, he took his name out of the running. That move was seen as an acknowledgement that he would face an uphill battle receiving approval from Congress and Warren in particular.
Weiss instead took a position as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
Schlosstein said he did not only blame Democrats for the mindset that punishes people such as Weiss.
"I would argue that's not even just a Democratic Party phenomenon. That's a pretty broad-based phenomenon and I think that continues for some period of time," he said. "I would say, even though I am one of those people, I really don't think that's a particularly good thing for this country."
The far-right-wingers and far-left Democrats are a negative both for the parties themselves and the country, he said.
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Disqualifying the financially successful does not make sense, but that trend is unlikely to last, Blair Effron, co-founder of Centerview, an investment banking and advisory firm, told "Squawk Box."
"There has never been a long-term horizon where people who want to serve from different sectors who have talent to do it are at more points than not welcome, and I don't think that's going to change," he said