Trump Treasury nominee to hail unleashing of US ‘economic golden age’

US Treasury nominee Scott Bessent plans to say that the US must secure vulnerable supply chains, levy sanctions to address national security concerns “and critically, we must ensure that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency”.

American politicians will question Bessent over his stance on taxes, tariffs, trade and other issues during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

The treasury secretary is responsible for serving as the president’s fiscal policy adviser and managing the public debt. He would also be a member of the president’s National Economic Council.

Trump’s choice for treasury secretary is a South Carolina billionaire who, before becoming a Trump donor and adviser, donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, notably Al Gore’s presidential run.

He also worked for George Soros, a major supporter of Democrats.

Trump looking to reset global trade order

Bessent was one of several people whom Trump considered for the role. Trump took his time before settling on Bessent as his nominee. He also mulled over billionaire investor John Paulson and Howard Lutnick, whom Trump picked as his nominee for commerce secretary.

If confirmed, Bessent will oversee massive agencies within the Treasury Department, including the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS received a massive boost in funding from Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, though that money has been in constant threat of being cut.

Trump expects him to help reset the global trade order, enable trillions of dollars in tax cuts, ensure inflation stays under control, manage a ballooning national debt and still keep the financial markets confident.

“Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritised over wasteful spending that drives inflation”, Bessent plans to say in his testimony.

Nominee set for hours of in-depth questioning

Senators are expected to question the money manager for hours on his views on cryptocurrency, the Trump-era tax cuts and potential conflicts of interest.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and member of the finance committee, sent Bessent more than 100 written questions on Friday, wanting to know his views on such topics as agency independence, housing, treasury workforce issues and financial stability oversight.

Bessent has backed extending provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed into law in his first year in office. Estimates of the costs of the various tax cuts range from nearly $6tn (€5.83tn) to $10tn (€9.71tn) over 10 years.

He calls for spending cuts and shifts in existing taxes to offset the costs that extending the tax cuts would add to the federal deficit.