Should Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised Above $7.25? Trump's Treasury Pick: 'No Sir'

Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick for treasury secretary, indicated during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday that he has no issue with the federal minimum wage remaining at $7.25 an hour, the wage floor that's been in place since 2009.

The admission was prompted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who asked Bessent, "Will you work with those of us who want to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage to take millions of Americans out of poverty?"

Bessent replied, "Senator, I believe that the minimum wage is more of a statewide and regional issue."

Sanders then pressed him, asking, "So you don't think we should change the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour?"

"No, sir," said Bessent, who owns assets worth at least $500 million, according to The Washington Post.

The annual wages of a worker making federal minimum wage is $15,080.

In response to these comments, Alex Floyd, the rapid response director at the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement: "Donald Trump and Scott Bessent will give tax handouts to billionaires but oppose raising wages for the poorest Americans. Trump and his billionaire Cabinet have their priorities backwards. Instead of focusing on lower costs and higher wages, they're only trying to line their own pockets while breaking promises to working families."

Bessent has laid out an economic plan known as "3-3-3," which involves reducing the federal budget deficit down to 3% of gross domestic product, getting real GDP growth to 3%, and producing an additional 3 million barrels of oil a day by 2028. The progressive policy institute the Center for American Progress reports that Bessent's 3-3-3 goal would likely require massive cuts of anti-poverty programs and middle-class tax increases to be achieved, taking into account other priorities Bessent has identified, such as his commitment to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts that benefited high-income households.

In a statement published Thursday, the government watchdog Accountable.US denounced Bessent's defense of Trump's tax cuts—under which "the top 1% saw benefits nearly three times larger than families in the bottom 60%"—and of the president-elect's proposed tariffs, which economists warn could boost inflation.

"Scott Bessent's nomination isn't about helping American families," said the group. "It's about lining the pockets of the ultrawealthy and doubling down on policies that hurt the middle class."