Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent — who has vowed to crack down on off-the-rails federal spending and help avert a “crushing $4 trillion tax hike” on Americans by year’s end — was confirmed as President Trump’s Treasury secretary on Monday.
The Senate approved Bessent in a bipartisan, 68-29 vote, setting the 62-year-old up to oversee the IRS and take stock of the nation’s finances.
The founder of Key Square Group had cleared the Senate Finance Committee last week in a 16-11 vote, backed by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) as well as every Republican on the panel.
“Scott Bessent has a clear vision to reignite America’s economy,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso after the vote. “He is going to be a strong partner in helping us lower prices, increase wages and create more American jobs.”
“Secretary Bessent believes in unleashing American energy, cutting wasteful spending, and staying tough on our adversaries,” added Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who sits on the Finance Committee.
Bessent, who promised to resign as Key Square’s CEO if confirmed, is a somewhat unorthodox pick, due to his lack of government experience and his past work stint at Soros Fund Management, which is chaired by left-wing billionaire George Soros.
He will also now be the first openly gay Senate-confirmed cabinet official in a Republican administration. His husband, John Freeman, and their two children had attended his confirmation hearing.
The Treasury pick made a strong case for his appointment earlier this month, emphasizing the importance of renewing Trump’s marquee tax legislation from his first term, which is set to expire in 2025.
“We must make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and implement new pro-growth policies to reduce the tax burden on American manufacturers, service workers and seniors,” Bessent urged members of the Senate Finance Committee.
“This is the single most important economic issue of the day,” he added. “If we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity and, as always with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class people.”
Born and raised in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Bessent added that his outlook was shaped by the financial difficulties his father faced as well as his earliest jobs — one of which, he recounted, was on Wall Street where he slept “on a pull-out sofa” because it was “rent-free.”
In the Jan. 16 hearing, Bessent also pledged to target “wasteful” spending, slap sanctions on “bad actors” like Iran and defended Trump’s proposals for across-the-board tariffs — including 10% import taxes on China as well as up to 25% on Mexico and Canada.
“China is in a severe recession,” he told the panel, saying Beijing was “attempting to export their way out” while also being one of the principal global suppliers of precursor chemicals for trafficking the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.
“We cannot allow them to flood our markets and the world,” Bessent declared.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tangled with the Treasury nominee during the hearing, claiming Bessent had exploited tax loopholes to bilk Uncle Sam for $900,000 — and would let Wall Street bosses do the same if confirmed — while accusing the second Trump admin of preparing to “surrender to China when it comes to clean energy jobs and investment.”
At the time, Bessent pushed back, claiming there is no “clean energy race” against Beijing but, rather, only “an energy race” — with China pushing forward on all fronts including coal and nuclear power.
Senate Republicans have celebrated Bessent’s expertise and commitment to addressing crises like the ballooning national debt.
“He brings a wealth of private-sector experience in the economy and markets to his new role, as well as a concern for the needs of working Americans,” said Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in a Monday floor speech.
“And at the top of the Republican agenda is extending that tax relief to help our economy and the American people thrive.”
“I’m committed to working with Mr. Bessent and the Trump administration to continue to protect American businesses and ensure that we do not enter into agreements that put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage next to their foreign counterparts,” Thune added.
Sen. Chuck Grassley highlighted private conversations with the Treasury chief that left him convinced Bessent was “acutely aware of the risks posed to our national economy by our $36 trillion national debt.”
“He understands that digging ourselves out of our fiscal hole will require spending restraint and, coupled with that, great economic growth,” Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday, while pointing to a IRS whistleblower program he authorized in a 2006 law that Bessent could use to go after “tax cheats.”
