Trump to nominate Scott Bessent as treasury secretary

President-elect Trump will nominate Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury Department secretary once he returns to the White House in January, FOX Business’ Charles Gasparino and Fox News’ Rich Edson have confirmed.

Bessent, the founder and CEO of global macro investment firm Key Square Group, was a key economic policy adviser and fundraiser for the Trump campaign.

He has been an advocate for economic policies like lower taxes, spending restraint and deregulation that have long made up the core of the Republican Party’s platform, and has also been supportive of Trump’s use of tariffs in trade negotiations.

At an event hosted by the Manhattan Institute earlier this year, Bessent suggested that Trump should pursue a three-point plan of targeting 3% economic growth, reducing the deficit to 3% of U.S. gross domestic product and to boost domestic energy production by 3 million barrels of oil a day.

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He has also been supportive of Trump’s plan to reduce regulations on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Bessent has also argued that mass deportations of illegal immigrants would be less costly than the status quo given the cost of crime and fentanyl deaths.

Bessent previously taught at Yale University. He worked at Soros Fund Management (SFM) from 1991 to 2005, starting as a partner and eventually leading the firm’s London office. After starting his own venture and working at another firm, he returned to SFM from 2011 to 2015 as chief investment officer, before he left to found his investment firm, Key Square Group. 

Key Square is focused on macro investing, which is a strategy that leverages geopolitical and macroeconomic information to guide its approach to investing in various markets.

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The role of treasury secretary carries a great deal of significance for conducting the president’s economic agenda. 

Treasury secretaries often lead negotiations with Congress over tax and spending matters and play a role in dealing with foreign governments and financial institutions, as well as handling the operations of the Treasury Department and sub-agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

During Trump’s first term as president, Steven Mnuchin served as treasury secretary for the duration of the four-year term after he was confirmed by the Senate on a 53-47 vote a few weeks after Inauguration Day.

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Bessent will also have to go through the Senate confirmation process, which will be made easier by a 53-seat Republican majority after GOP candidates flipped four seats in this election.

The Senate Finance Committee will be responsible for holding a confirmation hearing on Bessent’s nomination and advancing it to the floor for a confirmation vote. 

Senate committees often hold confirmation hearings for nominees of an incoming presidential administration ahead of Inauguration Day, which creates the opportunity for those nominees to be confirmed the day the new president takes office or shortly thereafter.