Trump’s treasury pick defends plans to cut taxes and raise tariffs

WASHINGTON — Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary pick, defended tax cuts and tariff increases Thursday, rebutting accusations from Democrats at his confirmation hearing that Trump’s policies would enrich the wealthiest Americans and hurt working families.

The clashes over the shifting direction of economic policy in the United States represented a preview of legislative fights to come this year as Trump prepares to enact blanket tariffs on imports and Republicans in Congress push to extend the tax cuts that they passed in 2017.

Bessent outlined a sharp break with the Biden administration during testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. He signaled a more confrontational approach with China and an intention to abandon a global tax agreement that the current Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, reached with more than 100 nations.

In his opening statement, Bessent said Trump’s plans represented a “generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans.”

A billionaire hedge fund manager with deep experience in financial markets, Bessent has been meeting with Senate Republicans and Democrats in recent weeks and is expected to have a relatively smooth confirmation process. But Democratic senators grilled Bessent on Trump’s plans, warning that they could stoke inflation and widen income inequality.

“Trump’s going to be waging this class war instead of fixing what’s broken about our tax system, which is that there’s a special set of rules that only applies to the ultrawealthy,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the committee. “Mr. Bessent is a case in point.”

During the hearing, Bessent stuck closely to Trump’s preferred policies. He expressed reservations about the idea of an American central bank digital currency. He said that he would explore abandoning the debt limit if Trump called for it and that a U.S. sovereign wealth fund would be a smart way to generate more revenues for the federal government.

Although Bessent used to be a big donor to Democrats, it was clear Thursday that he no longer supports many of their priorities. Asked by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., about whether he supported increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour, Bessent said: “No, sir.”

Bessent frequently played up his South Carolina roots and the fact that he owns farmland in North Dakota as he defused the implication from Democrats that he was part of the American oligarchy. He referred to himself as a rare Treasury secretary nominee who listens to farm radio on the weekends.

When pressed about contentious policy debates, such as tariffs, Bessent tried to offer perspective to show that the fallout would not be as bad as critics fear.

Bessent dismissed concerns from Democrats about Trump’s trade policy, suggesting that exporters from countries such as China would lower their prices in the face of higher U.S. tariffs. He reminded the lawmakers that President Joe Biden left in place the tariffs that Trump enacted in his first term, but did little to enforce the trade commitment that China made in a 2020 trade deal.

As Treasury secretary, Bessent will oversee the vast U.S. sanctions program, and in this area, he also laid out a hawkish approach. Bessent acknowledged that Trump is worried that an overuse of sanctions could cause other nations to reduce their reliance on the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, but suggested that such penalties could be used more effectively.