Chloe Edwards, Photography Editor

Scott Bessent ’84, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday in a 68-29 vote. A billionaire investor and former adjunct professor at Yale, Bessent just became the ninth Yale graduate to hold the position and will succeed Janet Yellen GRD ’71, former President Joe Biden’s Treasury secretary.

Bessent’s confirmation followed a 16-11 vote in the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month, where Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., joined every Republican in advancing his nomination. In the full Senate, 16 Democrats voted in favor of Bessent, who will now serve as the highest-ranking LGBTQ+ individual in American history and fifth in the line of presidential succession.

“Scott Bessent brings a wealth of private-sector experience in the economy and markets to his new role, as well as a concern for the needs of working Americans,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., posted on X.

Bessent, a former partner at Soros Fund Management and the founder of Key Square Group, a macro hedge fund, previously donated extensively to Democrats but has shifted his alignment in recent years. He helped finance Trump’s re-election campaign.

During his testimony at the Senate Finance Committee, Bessent pledged that Social Security and Medicare would remain untouched and opposed introducing a central digital currency. Bessent also called for the expansion of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which have faced widespread criticism.

The proposed tax policies could eliminate child and dependent care tax credits, student loan and mortgage interest deductions and the estate tax. According to the Congressional Budget Office, these changes, among others, would add $4.6 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.

During his Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called Bessent’s policies “oligarchic.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., later criticized Bessent’s opposition to raising the federal minimum wage, calling him “out of touch” with working Americans.

“Scott Bessent said that the number one economic issue facing the country was extending Trump’s billionaire tax cut,” Murphy said after the hearing.

Bessent’s confirmation comes as the Trump administration pursues aggressive economic policies, including tariffs and trade measures. On Sunday, Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Colombian imports after the country refused to accept deported immigrants. Colombia eventually agreed to accept the deportees, avoiding the tariffs and other sanctions.

Trump also recently directed the Treasury to study the feasibility of establishing an External Revenue Service to manage tariff and trade-related revenue collection.

When Trump nominated Bessent in November last year, he described him as a “strong advocate of the America First Agenda.” Trump added that Bessent would spearhead efforts to solidify America’s position as the “world’s leading economy” and “center of innovation and entrepreneurialism.”

Bessent, a political science major, graduated Yale in 1984. During his undergraduate years, he served as president of the Wolf’s Head Society, received the John Proctor Clarke Scholarship for leadership and was a member of Branford College. He later briefly taught at Yale from 2000 to 2006 and served on the University Council, an advisory board to the Yale president.

Yale acknowledged Bessent’s confirmation on Tuesday in a Yale Today newsletter. The post linked to a New York Times article about the Yale alumnus.

Bessent follows Steven Mnuchin ’85, Trump’s first Treasury secretary, as the second Yale alumnus to hold the role during a Trump administration.

ASHER BOISKIN
Asher Boiskin covers Alumni Affairs. Originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he is a first-year in Morse College.