The Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Scott Bessent as Secretary of the Treasury. The 62-year-old spent over three decades in investment banking and hedge funds before becoming a donor and economic adviser for President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The Senate voted 68-29 to confirm Bessent, with over a dozen Democrats joining the Republican majority in supporting his confirmation.
Bessent has a history of supporting Democrats and Republicans, once holding a 2000 fundraiser for Democratic nominee Al Gore.
He also worked for a firm run by major Democratic donor George Soros, playing a leading role on the team that made a successful $1 billion bet on the 1992 crash in the value of the British pound.
However, with the Trump campaign, Bessent has pushed policies that align with many conservative priorities. He has proposed loosening regulations on businesses and opposes raising the federal minimum wage from the current rate of $7.25 an hour.
He also raised concerns over Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Although Trump nominated Powell to his current position, the president has vocally criticized his approach to inflation and interest rates.
Bessent has proposed a plan to nominate and confirm a new chair before Powell’s term expires in 2026 and have the future chair give economic forecasts, previewing the time after Powell leaves the role.
With his confirmation, Bessent will become just the second openly gay man to serve as a cabinet secretary. As the fifth person in the presidential line of succession, he will become the highest-ranking openly LGBTQ person in U.S. history.
