President-elect Donald Trump is said to be naming Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager, to head the Treasury Department, according to numerous sources.
Bessent, who is 62 years old, founded the macro fund Key Square Group in 2015 and is openly gay.
'I was all in for President Trump. I was one of the few Wall Street people backing him.'
Trump previously referred to Bessent as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street."
Bessent is from a small town in South Carolina and studied at Yale before ending up on Wall Street working at Soros Fund Management. When he started Key Square Group, left-wing billionaire George Soros invested $2 billion in the fund.
Bessent has been a donor and supporter of Trump as well as an economic advisor in the 2024 presidential campaign. He also worked as a top fundraiser. In January, he predicted that there would be a rally in the stock market once Trump won the election, and he was correct.
“I was all in for President Trump. I was one of the few Wall Street people backing him,” he said in one interview.
He has called on Trump to implement deregulation and tax cuts. He's also warned about the worsening debt burden and attributed it to "four years of reckless spending" under the Biden administration.
Some on the right criticized his reported nomination based on his connections to Soros, but others like BlazeTV contributor Carol Roth praised the pick.
"Given the mess that [Janet] Yellen is leaving Treasury in, Bessent was the best choice of all the names floated," she posted on social media.
The nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
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Millions of small-business owners, including those running LLCs and S corporations, face looming financial penalties and even jail time due to the Corporate Transparency Act Beneficial Ownership Information rule, also known as CTA BOI. With the January 1 deadline approaching, Congress must act now by passing one of the proposed delay bills, or Donald Trump must pledge that his administration will not enforce fines for noncompliance.
As Glenn Beck and I have discussed this past year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a division of the Treasury Department, issued the CTA BOI rule, which requires businesses to report personal information about all owners and decision-makers. This includes submitting a photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport, for each person. The stated goal of the rule is to combat cartels, terrorism, and money laundering. However, this reasoning is deeply flawed. Criminal organizations are unlikely to voluntarily register their businesses, leaving law-abiding small businesses to shoulder the compliance burden.
Large businesses are exempt from this rule, meaning small businesses and other entities, such as certain housing associations, bear the brunt of the regulation. The penalties for noncompliance are excessive, including daily fines exceeding $500 and potential jail time. Additionally, the rule requires businesses to submit sensitive personal data, creating a cybersecurity risk if hackers target the database.
Despite at least 10 pending lawsuits challenging the rule's constitutionality, including one where a federal district court declared it unconstitutional, Congress has not taken definitive action. Multiple delay bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate, yet none have moved forward. A recent report estimated compliance rates at just 10%, meaning millions of small businesses could face penalties under an unconstitutional rule.
Small-business owners are not financial criminals. They are the backbone of the American economy and deserve better treatment. This rule unfairly targets them, and Congress or President-elect Trump must take immediate action to protect these businesses.
Congress must pass a delay bill before the January 1 deadline. Alternatively, President-elect Trump could reassure small-business owners that his administration will not enforce the fines, giving them much-needed breathing room. This would allow time to overturn the rule entirely in 2025.
Last week, 44 members of Congress sent a letter to FinCEN requesting a delay, but more concrete action is necessary. Small businesses need clear communication and protection from this onerous regulation.
Call your representatives and spread the word on social media. Urge Congress and the Trump administration to take swift action. Small businesses need support, not unnecessary barriers, to thrive. Let’s prioritize empowering the American entrepreneurial spirit and protecting the backbone of our economy.
If interest rates go to 8 percent, 'that can become a huge spiral that could take down the finances of this country,' says J.D. Vance.
Sen. Ron Johnson says the FBI director seems 'clueless' about allegations of campaign finance crimes tied to the Democrat fundraising platform.
Instead of addressing Americans' concerns, the DOJ has weaponized the criminal justice system to censor views it doesn’t like.
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