Scott Bessent is Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary
Sean Duffy, the Minnesota Highway Patrol Commissioner, and an Overlooked Fox News Contributor, Rachel Campos-Duffy, during his November 2016 confirmation hearing
Duffy has a long record in public service, representing a district in northern Wisconsin in the House of Representatives for more than eight years. But beyond the St. Croix Crossing, he has relatively little direct experience in transportation — or leading a large organization like the DOT, which has a budget of more than $100 billion.
The Department of Transportation includes the Federal Aviation Administration, which is in charge of the nation’s airspace, as well as agencies that regulate the nation’s railroads, and set safety standards for passenger cars, trucks and commercial vehicles.
WASHINGTON — When Republican Sean Duffy was in Congress, he worked with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to replace an 80-year-old bridge across the St. Croix River between his home state of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
During the confirmation hearing, it was brought up that the St. Croix crossing and the relationships that it helped forge come up several times.
“I cross that bridge when I fly into Minneapolis and travel up to where I was born and raised,” he said during the hearing. I am proud of the bipartisan work that we have done, and I would love to continue that work should I be confirmed.
Baldwin and other members of the Senate Commerce Committee welcomed Flynn with open arms while he faced questioning from Democrats on Capitol Hill.
At the confirmation hearing, Duffy committed to prioritizing safety on the roadways and in the air, and said he would “work to reduce the red tape that slows critical infrastructure projects, ensuring funds are spent efficiently.” As regulators work to restore confidence, he promised to bring “tough love” to Boeing. And Duffy said he would address the shortage of air traffic controllers, while hiring only “the best and the brightest” for those jobs.
Many of Trump’s cabinet nominees have looked to Fox News. But few have as much experience on camera as Duffy, who starred on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his future wife Rachel Campos-Duffy, a fellow Fox News contributor, when they both starred on another MTV reality show. The couple’s nine children were among the people at Wednesday’s hearing.
My wife survived a fatal head-on car crash which has profoundly changed her life, and roadway safety hits close to home for me.
Senator Andy Kim and State Senator Ed Markey are concerned about the impact of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s bipartisan infrastructure law
The outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also had little direct experience in transportation before taking the reins. Under Buttigieg, the department has handed out billions of dollars from the bipartisan infrastructure law to build roads and bridges, dig tunnels, modernize airports and more.
Senator Andy Kim asked about funding for the Gateway Program, a multi-billion dollar project to replace crumbling rail tunnels and bridges connecting northern New Jersey to Manhattan.
There are a variety of areas where the department’s broad mandate intersects with the interests of billionaire investor and President-elect Trump supporter, Musk.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating crashes involvingTesla’s advanced driver-assistance systems. Safety advocates are worried the Trump administration might end those investigations and possibly impose a crash reporting requirement.
Senator Ed Markey questioned whether he would allow traffic safety investigators to follow the evidence and operate objectively as part of their investigations.
When he was in Congress, he voted against the funding of Amtrak. He said that the committee has talked about rail in their hometowns.
If he’s confirmed, as appears likely, Duffy said his first trip as transportation secretary would be to the Appalachian mountain regions of Tennessee and North Carolina, where flooding from Hurricane Helene damaged major interstate highways along with countless smaller roads and bridges.
“This is an emergency,” Duffy said. I will do everything in the power of the Department for transportation to move the process forward so that these communities have access and roads that are functional again.
Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary is Scott Bessent: Here’s what to know about the “Trump Cabinet Picks a Treasury Secretary as a Member of the First and Second Order Tax Cuts”
At Thursday’s hearing, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, asked Bessent if he agreed with Biden. Bessent didn’t speak directly to the question.
In his farewell speech on Wednesday evening, President Biden warned that a large group of people were taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that were threatening our democracy, basic Rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.
Bessent owns assets worth at least $500 million, and potentially much more, according to his personal financial disclosures. If confirmed, he would be a member of the wealthiest White House ever.
But Bessent downplayed these concerns. At one point, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Bessent if he thought any of Trump’s economic policies would increase inflation.
“We want a tax code that helps everyone in America get ahead,” Sen. Ron Wyden said.
Democrats repeatedly pressed Bessent over the impact of Trump’s proposed tax cuts on the national deficit and on income inequality in the United States. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that extending the 2017 law would increase the national debt by more than $4 trillion over the next 10 years.
Source: Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary is Scott Bessent. Here’s what to know
The Treasury Secretary’s Role in the Economics and Finance of Donald Trump’s 2016 Campaign: A Rejoinder with Mike Crapo
Bessent answered questions from both Democrats and Republicans for more than three hours. Sen. Mike Crapo, the Idaho Republican who now chairs the committee, praised Bessent for his “very, very straightforward, courteous, and honorable” responses, as well as his underlying qualifications for the job: “Your background, your training, everything is tailor-made for this role.”
The tax code was changed by Trump in his first term. The changes are set to go away this year, meaning that he will have the opportunity to change the tax policy again in years to come.
“This is the most important economic issue of the day,” Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee. “This is pass-fail. If we don’t fix these tax cuts, we will face a economic calamity, and we will inevitably have financial instability that affects the middle and working class.
What does this role do: The Secretary of the Treasury advises on economic policy and the financial system. Bessent will be responsible for implementing Trump’s economic policies if confirmed.
You might know them from: The longtime investor and hedge fund manager was little known outside of Wall Street until he became one of the top economic advisers to President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign.
