JANUARY 17, 2025|
Photo – Scott Bessent – Courtesy Wikipedia
In Washington, D.C., on Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be Treasury Secretary fielded questions from Democrats and Republicans on tax policy, tariffs, China and Russia sanctions, as well as the IRS tax-filing system.
Scott Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee that the U.S. faces economic calamity if Congress doesn’t renew provisions of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He also argued the Federal Reserve should remain independent from the president’s influence and U.S. sanctions on Russian oil should be more aggressive.
Among the billionaire money manager from South Carolina’s stops on Thursday, was a showing before the Senate Finance Committee. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso asked how the Treasury Secretary can get the nation’s economy back on track following the Biden Administration’s use of regulations and tax hikes to retard the nation’s economy.
The Treasury Secretary nominee, responding to another question from Wyoming’s senior Senator, said that he supports extending the tax cuts and job acts signed in 2017, which is now timed to expire.
Bessent defended tariffs and argued for tax-cut extensions during his confirmation hearing. The Associate Press noted this week that Bessent would be the first openly LGBTQ Senate-confirmed Cabinet member in a Republican administration. The nominee told senators that Trump could lead a “new economic golden age that will create more jobs wealth and prosperity for all Americans.”
Bessent also told senators that the United States does not have a revenue problem, the country has a “spending problem.”
