WASHINGTON — Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump's pick for treasury secretary, passed through the Senate Finance Committee in a 16-11 vote, with some bipartisan support.
The vote for Bessent, a hedge fund manager, now moves to the Senate floor for the whole chamber's consideration in the next few days. He is expected to pass easily, similarly with uniform Republican and some Democratic support.
Two Democrats, Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, voted for recommending Bessent favorably to the whole Senate.
Other Democrats withheld their support, citing concerns with Bessent's tax record. Bessent, as treasury secretary, would be one of the central policymakers in Trump's bid to extend the tax cuts passed during his first term.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Bessent has used a disputed interpretation of how Medicare taxes would apply to the income he earned as part of his hedge fund, Key Square Group.
"Like a lot of Wall Street titans, he's opted out of paying a fair share into Medicare, starving the program of almost a million dollars over just three years," Wyden said. "The IRS has gone to court twice to ban this particular scheme and won both times."
Bessent said
"Treasury policy says what Mr. Bessent is doing is against the law," Wyden said. "Apparently he disagrees. His position seems to be that he might get around to paying some day. Maybe not."
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, defended Bessent.
"He has done nothing wrong except follow traditional tax law," Crapo said. Bessent "fully complied with traditional tax law and is prepared, if the IRS position prevails in court and the rules change, to pay the tax that is due," the senator said.
While Bessent's main task as treasury secretary would be tax policy, he would also wield a great deal of influence over bank regulation.
In response to questions for the record submitted to the committee, Bessent suggested he would be open to reconsidering some key policy questions around deposit insurance.
"I believe it is appropriate to evaluate the level of deposit insurance limits for small business transaction accounts, if confirmed, look forward to working with you on this," Bessent said.
He didn't lend support for the idea of fundamentally changing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
"The FDIC serves an important function in protecting American depositors and providing stability to our banking system," he said in a response to a question about privatizing the FDIC. "If confirmed, I look forward to working with you and your staff on ways to improve the operations of our deposit insurance system."
He also said he doesn't view deregulation as a cause of the
"We need to ensure the regulatory system is properly tailored to
enhance the breadth of our banking system, including our vibrant community banks," he said.
He also hedged on whether he would have approved the systemic risk exception — which requires the sign-off of the treasury secretary — after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
"Data on deposit flows and reports of deposit withdrawals across the banking system that were said to have been relied upon to invoke the systemic risk exception for those financial institutions are not publicly available," Bessent said. "We need to ensure that the U.S. banking system is safe and resilient. Competition in banking is an important component to ensure the robust provision of financial services to American individuals, families, and businesses to drive economic growth."
Bessent declined to weigh in on the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"The CFPB's funding structure was set by Congress," he said. "If confirmed, I look forward to reviewing any Congressional proposals regarding the CFPB's funding structure."
Trump is expected
