Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that it is “fashionable” to be :”beating up on China” while quizzing former Rep. Lee Zeldin on how he would work with the geopolitical foe to tackle climate change.
“It’s fashionable to be beating up on China. It’s good politics,” Sanders said. “They are now the major carbon polluter in the world. We have historically had that role. We’re now number two. We’re not going to solve this crisis without working with China.”
He asked Zeldin, who is President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) if he is “prepared to work with China to try to lower carbon emissions.”
“Senator on many different issues, it is important not just to be working with nations that we are the strongest aligned with, but to also be in communication with and engaged in dialog with countries that might be considered competitors and also our greatest adversaries,” Zeldin said. “And right now, China is an adversary in many respects.”
Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a top economic priority, and failing to keep tax cuts in place will wreak havoc on the middle class, according to President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent.
“This is the single most important economic issue of the day,” Bessent, a hedge fund billionaire from South Carolina, told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday during his confirmation hearing.”If we do not renew an extension, then we will be facing an economic calamity,” Bessent said. “And, as always, with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class.”Bessent cautioned that a “gigantic” middle-class tax increase would occur if the tax cuts expire.
Trump’s economic plan includes extending the 2017 tax cuts and imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on all imported goods. For countries like China, that number could go up to 60%. Bessent, who previously authored an op-ed for Fox News Digital backing the employment of tariffs, voiced support for the Trump administration’s use of tariffs as a lever in multiple exchanges with lawmakers. For example, Bessent disagreed with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who asserted the American people would be “clobbered” by tariffs on all imported goods.
Gov. Doug Burgum, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Interior Secretary, said that he believes there should be greater national attention on missing and murdered indigenous women during his confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Burgum was questioned by lawmakers during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing, where Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., asked about whether the Trump nominee would work to improve tribal law enforcement amid a mass amount of missing indigenous women.
Burgum agreed on the issue, describing it as an “unseen tragedy in America,” and called for more training and recruitment for law enforcement across northern and southern tribes.
“I think there’s nothing partisan about enforcing the law and protecting the citizen,” Burgum said.
“I think the FBI list is now over 6000 unsolved cases. And I believe that it is a complete tragedy. It seems we lose a college student at spring break, it’s a Netflix series and the whole nation knows her name, personally,” Burgum added. “And then we have these same individual tragedies that happen over and over again in Indian country and people aren’t even aware that it’s going on. So we’ve got to change our entire approach to this.”
During his Environmental Protection Agency administrator confirmation hearing, former Rep. Lee Zeldin had a pointed exchange with Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., regarding EPA officials likening last-minute expenditures to “gold bars …off the Titanic” going toward climate groups.
Zeldin referenced a Project Veritas video from December purporting to show an individual identified as EPA special advisor Brent Efron making the comparison, while discussing large amounts of appropriations being given to green-centric organizations.
“It’s how to get the money out as fast as possible,” Efron is heard saying, calling the move “an insurance policy against Trump winning” because government money is hard to claw back.
Markey claimed that 80% of such funds going out recently have gone to Republican congressional districts and warned Zeldin against conducting a “witch hunt” and asked for a pledge of impartiality when assessing EPA programs.
Zeldin replied that he predicts a review of the funds will show a good proportion having already been approved by Congress but wanted to reserve the right to bring any discrepancies before Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, challenged Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., about whether the U.S. and China are facing a clean energy race against one another.
Wyden questioned Bessent, who appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday for a confirmation hearing, about whether he would back the Trump administration to advance policies to promote natural oil and gas.
“We are in a clean arms race in clean energy with China,” Wyden said. “Are you going to be on the side of people who want to unravel this?”
“Just so we can frame this for everyone in this room – China will build one hundred new coal plants this year,” Bessent said. “There is not a clean energy race. There’s an energy race.”
Former NFL veteran turned Texas state legislator, Scott Turner, said Thursday during his confirmation hearing to be the next Housing and Urban Development Secretary that his goal will be to advance and expand polices heralded by the incoming Trump administration.
Turner said Thursday morning during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that, if nominated, his priorities would include taking an inventory of current programs to see what is working and what is not working well at the agency, including identifying any regulatory burdens that are impacting the supply of affordable housing. Turner said a lot of this work will involve engaging with state and local officials, since they are uniquely attuned to the housing needs and roadblocks within their communities.
Turner also said he plans to find ways to reduce the costs of construction and engage with private sector entities within the housing market. Turner said Thursday that he hopes to be able to improve access to equity for homeowners through some of these efforts. “I believe having that equity in the home should be available to the home owner because that’s how most families’ begin to build wealth,” Turner pointed out. “My goal is to help people get off govern assistance, become self sustainable.”
The former Texas state legislator previously served as the Executive Director of the Trump administration’s Opportunity and Revitalization Council, and he added during his Thursday confirmation hearings that he hopes to expand the resources the council established if nominated.
Democrats, meanwhile, took the opportunity to question whether Turner would support additional federal spending to make housing more affordable, such as HUD’s section 8 vouchers. Democrats also questioned Turner over whether he would work to remove racial bias from the housing appraisal industry, and whether he intends go after “price gouging” from real estate investors.
While Turner did not give a concrete response one way, or the other, he did commit to working with every member on the committee to ensure each of HUD’s programs address the myriad of issues associated with higher housing costs.
Former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin sat for his confirmation hearing to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, and was grilled by Democrats on his views of climate change.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse questioned Zeldin on the effects of carbon dioxide and pollutants on the atmosphere.
“Is carbon dioxide a pollutant?” the Rhode Island Democrat asked.
“As far as the carbon dioxide emitted by you during that question – no,” Zeldin replied, adding that in larger masses, the EPA should indeed focus on carbon dioxide output.
Whitehouse also produced a topographic map of the Ocean State, showing colored ranges he said are at danger of becoming underwater due to climate change.He said Zeldin likely understands the issue with sealevels – as his former congressional district is diagonally across Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean from Westerly.
Read more about Lee Zeldin from Charles Creitz.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked Doug Burgum , President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of the Interior, if he had ever engaged in sexual or physical harassment.
“Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?” Hirono asked.
“No senator I have not,” Burgum responded.
“Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct?”
“I have not,” Burgum said.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin was in front of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Fox News Digital spoke to a number of senators about how they thought he fared in his testimony and the response to questions from lawmakers.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., described his performance as “A plus plus plus.”
Zeldin faced questions on climate change, regulations and energy production among other top issues.
President Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, said he doesn’t support increasing the federal minimum wage.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Bessent whether the hedge fund billionaire would “work with those of use who want to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage to take millions of Americans out of poverty.”
“Senator, I believe that the minimum wage is more of a state and regional issue,” Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing.
“You don’t think we should change the federal minimum wage?” Sanders said. “We have $7.25 an hour.”
“No sir,” Bessent replied.
Sanders is a vocal supporter of raising the federal minimum wage, and introduced legislation in 2023 that would raise it to $17 by 2028.
Sanders’ home state Vermont recently raised its minimum wage from $13.67 to $14.01 per hour this month. The federal minimum wage has remained $7.25 since 2009.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, quizzed Doug Burgum on whether he can commit to current wind projects, after President-elect Trump suggested he would end many of them.
“I’m not familiar with every project that the interior has underway, but I’ll certainly be taking a look at all of those. And if it makes sense and they’re already in law, they’ll continue,” Burgum said.
“I think the key is, and I think President Trump’s been very clear, in his statements that he’s concerned about the significant amount of tax incentives that have gone towards some forms of energy, that have helped exacerbate this imbalance that we’re seeing right now,” he said.
Trump has long criticized using wind farms as a main form of energy production, but his latest remarks suggest that his incoming administration could place major restrictions on the future production of new wind-powered energy projects.
“It’s the most expensive energy there is. It’s many, many times more expensive than clean natural gas,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago this month “So we’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built.”
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department backed beefing up sanctions against Russia in order to end the conflict in Ukraine during his confirmation hearing Thursday.
“If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed, and if President Trump requests as part of his strategy in the Ukraine war, that I will 100% [be] on board for taking sanctions up,” Scott Bessent told members of the Senate Finance Committee.
Bessent’s comments came during an exchange with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who said he believed President Joe Biden’s administration waited too long to add additional sanctions on Russia, and admitted he hoped Trump could “settle this” and impose stricter sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued new sanctions against Russia on Friday, targeting two major Russian oil producers, more than 180 vessels, and dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies, and energy officials.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Friday. “This action builds on, and strengthens, our focus since the beginning of the war on disrupting the Kremlin’s energy revenues…With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports.”
Dozens of former Justice Department (DOJ) officials sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, Fox News Digital first reported last week.
They praised both her commitment to the rule of law and her track record as Florida’s former attorney general that they said makes her uniquely qualified for the role.
The letter, previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, was signed by more than 110 senior Justice Department officials who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, including former U.S. attorneys general John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese.
Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, deputy attorneys general Rod Rosenstein and Jeffrey Rosen, and Randy Grossman, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California under the Biden administration, were among the other notable signatories.
The DOJ alumni expressed their “strong and enthusiastic support” for Bondi, Florida’s former attorney general, who also spent 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s office.
“It is all too rare for senior Justice Department officials — much less Attorneys General — to have such a wealth of experience in the day-to-day work of keeping our communities safe,” they wrote.
Read more about Pam Bondi from Breanne Deppisch.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled witnesses Thursday on Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi’s experience and her ability to operate independently under a president-elect who previously ousted officials for failing to carry out his political will.
Democrats on the committee focused their lines of questioning on how Bondi would handle a president who fired former attorney general Jeff Sessions after he recused himself from the Russia investigation and pressured the resignation of former attorney Bill Barr after he said in a letter that the Justice Department had not found evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Mary McCord, a longtime former U.S. attorney and outspoken Trump critic, cited concerns over Bondi’s ability to act independently of president-elect Donald Trump, amid possible efforts to bend the department under his political will.
“Her work defending President Trump during the first impeachment proceedings, and public statements she has made about potential prosecutions of those involved in cases against President Trump, could create— at the very least—the appearance of a lack of independence if she were to open investigations into people involved in those matters,” McCord, now a professor at Georgetown law, said of Bondi.
But others pushed back on that contention, including David Aronberg, a Democrat whom Bondi tapped to be her drug czar during her tenure as Florida’s attorney general.
Aronberg stressed to lawmakers that Bondi is “tethered to the law” and will not shy away from standing up to the president-elect.
“A prosecutor’s job is to follow the evidence and follow the law— without fear or favor” Aronberg said
Bondi, he said “is a 20 year prosecutor who understands this, even if she does something as attorney general of the United States that I disagree with, I believe she will always remain tethered to the law.”
Written by Breanne Deppisch.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, questioned Doug Burgum on whether the Trump administration will “drill, baby, drill” when it gets into office.
Hirono asked Burgum — who has been picked by President-elect Trump to lead the Department of the Interior — about whether he would drill in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
“I’ll follow the law and follow the Constitution, and so you can count on that,” he said. “And I have not heard of anything about President Trump wanting to do anything…other than advancing energy production for the benefit of the American people.”
“We all know that the president wants to drill, baby, drill,” Hirono replied. “And in your testimony, you say that he has an energy dominance vision. So I would ask you that, should you be confirmed that you will have, these kinds of matters that you’ll have to decide. Are you going to drill in a monument? Are you going to protect our natural resources, or are you going to drill, baby, drill? So I raise that, as a as a concern.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head up the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent , said extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a top economic priority, and cautioned against the consequences to the middle class for failing to do so.
“This is the single most important economic issue of the day,” Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing.
“If we do not renew an extension, then we will be facing an economic calamity,” Bessent said. “And as always with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class.”
Bessent said that a “gigantic” middle class tax increase would occur if the tax cuts expire.
Trump signed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act during his first term, but many of the reforms included will sunset in 2025. Groups like Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, claim that millions of Americans will face a hike of $1,500 or more next year in taxes if the cuts are not renewed.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
At the start of EPA administrator-nominee Lee Zeldin’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the top Democrat offered a personal gift to new Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V.
Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse presented Capito with a gavel he said was made in 1956 – with a very special Mountain State connection.
“I’d like to let everyone know that I like the chairman. That’s a good start,” Whitehouse said.
“And in that context, I would like to present her as the new chairman this gavel. It was made in 1956 of wood from the Old West Virginia State House by the McKinley Vocational High School in Wheeling, West Virginia.”
Capito, who was born in the northern panhandle which is anchored by Wheeling, said, “wow” and gratefully accepted the gavel.
Whitehouse added that there was another personal connection in the gift:
The gavel had originally been presented to then-Gov. Hulett Smith, the Democrat that preceded the chairwoman’s Republican father, ex-Gov. Arch Moore Jr.
Governor Moore kept the gavel from the term-limited Smith, Whitehouse said.“May you bang it in good health,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Scott Bessent, promised that the new administration would usher in a period of economic prosperity for all Americans.
“Today, I believe that President Trump has a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans,” Bessent said in his opening remarks for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
“We must secure supply chains that are vulnerable to strategic competitors, and we must carefully deploy sanctions as part of a whole-of-government approach to address our national security requirements,” Bessent said. “And critically, we must ensure that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency.”
Bessent, a hedge fund billionaire who has previously served as a Trump donor and advisor, also voiced support for extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump signed during his first term. Many of the reforms included in the measure are slated to expire in 2025.
Bessent is expected to face scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Warren issued a letter to Bessent last week with more than 180 questions pressing for answers on the nominee’s views on deregulation of banks and the financial industry, extending federal tax cuts, and imposing tariffs.
The Treasury Department is responsible for managing federal finances, and oversees agencies including the Internal Revenue Service.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced to the Senate Finance Committee President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department during a confirmation hearing Thursday.
Trump has nominated South Carolinian and hedge fund billionaire, Scott Bessent, to head up the agency.
Graham said his response when Trump mentioned Bessent was in consideration for the position was, “Home run, from my point of view.”
“This man has been successful with everything he’s ever tried to do,” Graham said. “He’s worked really hard. And why did President Trump pick him? He believes that President Trump’s economic agenda is a good fit for this country, and he wants to help President Trump be successful.”
Graham also requested that the committee determine whether Bessent is qualified for the job – not whether they agree with Bessent on every policy.
“He deserves this job,” Graham said. “He’s qualified for this job. President Trump, thank you for picking him.”
Lee Zeldin, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), defended Trump against criticism by left-wing senators over his views on climate change — pushing back on the assessment that Trump called it a hoax.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked Zeldin what he thought of Trump’s views on climate change.
“Do you agree with President-elect Trump that climate change is a hoax?” he asked.
“I believe that climate change is real as I told you,” Zeldin replied. “As far as President Trump goes, the context that I have heard him speak about, it was with a criticism of of policies that have been enacted because of climate change.”
“And, I think that he’s concerned about the economic costs of some policies where there’s a debate, and a difference of opinion between parties.”
Sanders was not impressed: “I respectfully disagree with you, he has called it a hoax.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed on Thursday who he plans to appoint to the Senate once Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., resigns, as he is expected to be confirmed to be President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of State after his inauguration.
The governor selected Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to be the next senator.
Moody has been a key ally of DeSantis in the state and worked in tandem with him to facilitate his agenda as governor.
DeSantis spoke at a press conference in Florida, praising Moody’s work tackling illegal immigration, DEI and other key issues.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Julia Johnson.
Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi vowed Wednesday to head up a Justice Department free from political influence and mismanagement if confirmed— using her confirmation hearing to assuage concerns that she might use the role to go after Trump’s so-called “enemies” or otherwise weaponize the Department of Justice.
For weeks, Bondi has done the same behind closed doors – meeting with nearly every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a bipartisan charm offensive designed to head off any unexpected encounters and ensure an easy path to confirmation.
So far, the careful strategy seems to have paid off, with even Democrats on the panel praising the former Florida AG in light of their earlier in light of their earlier one-on-one meetings in private.
The first day of Bondi’s confirmation spanned more than five hours, save for a 30-minute lunch break. It focused largely on her decades of prosecutorial experience in Florida, including her crackdown on opioid drugs, violent crime, and trafficking.
Bondi also sought to reassure lawmakers she does not intend to “weaponize” the Department of Justice.
“If confirmed,” Bondi told lawmakers yesterday, “I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components.”
Today’s hearing will seek to more closely focus on Bondi’s record in Florida and her history of working across the aisle. It will feature testimony from Dave Aronberg, a former state attorney who ran against Bondi as a Democrat in the 2010 state attorney general race— and whom she later tapped to serve as her drug czar— to highlight that work.
It will also feature testimony from Nicholas Cox, a state prosecutor who worked with Bondi for years at the state attorney’s office in Hillsborough County.
Both formerly praised Bondi’s record in interviews with Fox News Digital, describing her as more a consensus-builder than bridge-burner.
In Florida, Bondi “was not seen as a very partisan person,” Aronberg told Fox News, citing her “strong working relationship with Democrats,” which continued after being sworn in as state attorney general.
Testimony will continue today in Bondi’s confirmation hearing, which begins at 10:15 a.m.
This is an excerpt from Fox News’s Breanne Deppisch.
Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi’s second day of confirmation hearings will feature testimony from five witnesses to speak to her prosecutorial experience and bipartisan work as Florida’s attorney general, including several who worked directly with Bondi in her decades as a prosecutor in Florida.
Witnesses include Dave Aronberg, a former state attorney for Palm Beach County and Democrat who challenged Bondi in the state attorney general race, and was later tapped by her to serve as her drug czar; Nicholas Cox, a prosecutor who worked with Bondi in her 18 years at the Hillsborough County state attorney’s office, and Emery Gainey, a former sheriff in Alachua County.
Others testifying will include Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the Public Citizen, a D.C.-based nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, and Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Georgetown Law.
Those who worked with Bondi will seek to underscore her history of consensus-building in Florida, and what they say is her history of working across the aisle on key priorities.
In Florida, Bondi “was not seen as a very partisan person,” Aronberg told Fox News Digital in an interview, citing her “strong working relationship with Democrats,” which continued even after being sworn in as state attorney general.
“She would support legislation regardless of whether it was supported by Democrats or Republicans,” Aronberg said, and in return, she was well-liked across the aisle.
If confirmed as attorney general, he told Fox News, Bondi “is not going to burn the house down,” Aronberg said. “She’s not going to manufacture evidence as a way to walk Trump’s enemies out in handcuffs.”
Gilbert, for her part, will speak to possible conflict of interests concerns, and McCord, the former Justice Department attorney, is likely to speak to concerns about politicization of the department under the president-elect.
Written by Breanne Deppisch.
Trump’s nominee to head up the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, will appear for his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, where lawmakers are expected to focus heavily on his record as a former congressman, including his opposition to certain climate-resilient legislation during his time in Congress.
Lee, who represented New York’s 1st congressional district from 2015 to 2023, was given a low 14% lifetime environmental voting score from the League of Conservation Voters.
The group cited his opposition to clean energy infrastructure investments and legislation on clean air and clean water protections, among other things.
But his confirmation hearing comes as Trump has promised to unleash U.S. oil and gas production in his second term, including expanding fracking, lifting a pause on U.S. LNG exports, and undoing what he has described as the Biden administration’s “disastrous” policies.
Trump has also praised Zeldin’s time in Congress, describing him as a “a true fighter for America First policies.” and praising his “very strong legal background,” among other things.
Zeldin’s testimony is underway.
Written by Breanne Deppisch.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi worked as one of Trump’s defense lawyers in 2020 after he was first impeached on allegations that he had abused his power and obstructed Congress.
“They have not charged the president with any crime because the president did nothing wrong,” Bondi said when articles of impeachment were sent by the House to the Senate. “There was no crime. The transcript of that phone call speaks for itself.”
Bondi also worked on Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his first administration. In her role on the commission, Bondi collaborated with national leaders on drug prevention and treatment.
Bondi is also a partner at Ballard Partners, a Florida-based lobbying firm founded by Brian Ballard. Bondi splits her time between Florida and Washington, D.C., chairing the firm’s corporate regulatory practice.
The D.C. office notably earned more than $70 million in lobbying fees during Trump’s first term by representing various corporate clients, according to federal disclosures.
Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, also works for the firm after becoming a partner there following Trump’s 2016 victory.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, will divest from his assets if he is confirmed to the position.
Bessent has said he will divest from his Key Square Group hedge fund and other investments, according to Reuters.
He told the Treasury Department’s ethics office that he would do so to “avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest in the event that I am confirmed for the position of Secretary of the Department of Treasury.”
His assets are disclosed at being worth at least $521 million, according to Fortune.
Bessent will face lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
A group of more than 60 former Democratic and Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Senate leaders urging the confirmation of Pam Bondi to head up the Department of Justice, Fox News Digital first reported last week.
They praised what they described as Bondi’s wealth of prosecutorial experience — including during her eight years as Florida’s top prosecutor — that they said makes her especially qualified for the role.
The letter was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital and includes the signatures of more than 20 Democratic attorneys general or attorneys general appointed by Democratic governors. The group praised Bondi’s work across the party and state lines during her time as Florida’s attorney general and as a state prosecutor in Hillsborough County, where she worked for 18 years.
“Many of us have worked directly with Attorney General Bondi and have firsthand knowledge of her fitness for the office,” the former attorneys general said in the letter. “We believe that her wealth of prosecutorial experience and commitment to public service make General Bondi a highly qualified nominee for Attorney General of the United States.”
The letter praised what signatories described as Bondi’s “unwavering” commitment to public safety and the rule of law in her time in the Sunshine State, where she sought to crack down on violent crime, protect consumers and combat the opioid crisis — which was at its height when she was elected as attorney general in 2010.
Bondi “was and remains a valued and respected member of the State Attorney General community,” they wrote. “Thus, we are confident that she will serve with distinction as United States Attorney General.”
Lee Zeldin, President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will lay out the importance of preserving the environment while also acknowledging economic realities Thursday.
Zeldin’s prepared remarks for his confirmation hearing show he wants to lead the EPA effectively while also avoiding “suffocating the economy.”
“Our mission is simple, but essential: To protect human health and the environment. We must do everything in our power to harness the greatness of American innovation with the greatness of American conservation and environmental stewardship. We must ensure we are protecting our environment, while also protecting our economy,” Zeldin is expected to say.
“The American people elected President Trump last November in part due to serious concerns about upward economic mobility and their struggle to make ends meet. Too many of our fellow Americans are trapped in poverty and desperate for a whole-of-government approach to give them a hand up. We can, and we must, protect our precious environment without suffocating the economy,” his remarks continue.
“A big part of this will require building private sector collaboration to promote common sense, smart regulation that will allow American innovation to continue to lead the world,” he adds.
President-elect Donald Trump made it official on Nov. 15, announcing that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will lead his U.S. Department of the Interior.
The president-elect said in the statement that the newly formed National Energy Council “will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation.
“In a X post following the announcement, Burgum said that he was “deeply grateful” for the nomination.
“I’m deeply grateful to President @RealDonaldTrump for this amazing opportunity to serve the American people and achieve ENERGY DOMINANCE!” he said.
Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term governor, launched a White House bid in June 2023.
Burgum made energy and natural resources a key part of his campaign for the GOP nomination.
President-elect Trump in November nominated Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury Department secretary.
“I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States,” he said. “Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream.”
Trump said that Bessent will assist in achieving the “Golden Age for the United States,” saying that he will focus on improving the economy and preserving the dollar.
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World,” he said. “Unlike in past Administrations, we will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.”
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.
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.
Read more about Scott Bessent from Eric Revell, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Louis Casiano.
For months, economic commentators parroted the Harris campaign’s misleading talking point that tariffs are a “sales tax.” Like much of economists’ conventional wisdom, this view is fundamentally incorrect. The reflexive opposition to tariffs represents political ideology and advocacy, not considered economic thought.
The truth is that tariffs have a long and storied history as both a revenue-raising tool and a way of protecting strategically important industries in the U.S. President-elect Trump has added a third leg to the stool: tariffs as a negotiating tool with our trading partners.
Prior to the 16th Amendment, which authorized the individual income tax, tariffs had been one of the federal government’s chief sources of funding. Our first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, also happened to be America’s original proponent of tariffs. But after World War II, a consensus coalesced around multilateral tariff disarmament. The promise of this new free-trade consensus was that any economic dislocations caused by globalization would be offset by increased prosperity for all. In the U.S. especially, this conviction was accompanied by a faith that free trade would lead to political freedom in other countries, such as Communist China. Neither of these predictions has proven to be correct.
The U.S. opened its markets to the world, but China’s resulting economic growth has only cemented the hold of a despotic regime. In the interim, we’ve hollowed out our manufacturing base, leaving a trail of devastation through swathes of our country’s heartland. We’ve also created key national security vulnerabilities. The truth is that other countries have taken advantage of the U.S.’s openness for far too long, because we allowed them to. Tariffs are a means to finally stand up for Americans.
Tariffs are also a useful tool for achieving the president’s foreign policy objectives. Whether it is getting allies to spend more on their own defense, opening foreign markets to U.S. exports, securing cooperation on ending illegal immigration and interdicting fentanyl trafficking, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a central role.
This is an excerpt from a November opinion article by Scott Bessent, President-elect Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Treasury.
Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin has been picked to join President-elect Donald Trump’s administration as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator.
Trump made the announcement in November, writing in part, “Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.”
Trump said Zeldin has “brilliantly” handled some “extremely difficult and complex situations.” He said he is sure Zeldin will “quickly prove to be a great contributor!”
Zeldin represented New York’s 1st Congressional District from 2015 to 2023, and in 2022 he made a run for governor, garnering the most votes for a Republican candidate in 50 years.
“I’m looking forward to serving in President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. Together, we will restore American energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, make the United States the global leader of Artificial Intelligence advancement, and slash the red tape holding back American workers from upward economic mobility,” Zeldin told Fox News Digital after Trump’s announcement.
“We will do this all while conserving our environment, protecting access to clean air and water, and keeping the American people healthy. I look forward to contributing to President Trump’s agenda to build a more prosperous future for our nation.”
Read more about Lee Zeldin from Greg Wehner.
President-elect Donald Trump in November nominated former NFL player Scott Turner as the secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Turner, who is chair of the Center for Education Opportunity, previously served as executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC).
“Scott is an NFL Veteran, who, during my First Term, served as the First Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities,” Trump said at the time.
“Those efforts, working together with former HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, were maximized by Scott’s guidance in overseeing 16 Federal Agencies which implemented more than 200 policy actions furthering Economic Development,” he added. “Under Scott’s leadership, Opportunity Zones received over $50 Billion Dollars in Private Investment!”
Turner, a graduate of the University of Illinois, played cornerback for the Washington Redskins before winning a state house race in Texas. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
During Trump’s first term, Turner served as the executive director of the WHORC — aimed at helping the country’s “distressed communities across America,” according to its website.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped two energy czars to oversee the expansion of American energy in his second term, and the industry has already handed the incoming administration and Congress a wish list of what they would like to see as the top priorities of leadership’s agenda.
The incoming commander-in-chief announced in a November press release that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will not only be his nominee for Secretary of the Department of Interior, but will head up a new National Energy Council, which “which will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy.”
Trump named Liberty Energy founder and CEO Chris Wright as his pick to lead the Department of Energy in November, noting that Wright will also serve on the National Energy Council.
“He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas,” Trump said at the time. “Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.”
In reaction to the selections, American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard said the combination of Burgum and Wright “is literally the dream team.”
Read more about Burgum and Wright from Breck Dumas.
Just hours after former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to be attorney general in November, President-elect Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his AG nominee.
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump wrote in his announcement. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.
“I have known Pam for many years – She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”
Bondi chairs the Center of Litigation and co-chairs the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute.
Bondi, 59, is a Tampa native and earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Florida and her law degree from Stetson Law School. She was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1991.
She worked as a prosecutor out of the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office for more than 18 years, trying a variety of cases from domestic violence to murder.
Bondi, 59, is a Tampa native and earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Florida and her law degree from Stetson Law School. She was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1991.
She worked as a prosecutor out of the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office for more than 18 years, trying a variety of cases from domestic violence to murder.
Read more about Pam Bondi from Haley Chi-Sing.
