Senate Confirms Billionaire Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

Trump administration has no plans to address climate-driven insurance and affordability crises
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Ginny Roscamp, Deputy Press Secretary, Sierra Club, ginny.roscamp@sierraclub.org, 415-508-8498 (Pacific Time)

Today, the GOP-led Senate confirmed Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary, President Trump’s billionaire nominee and former hedge fund manager. Despite Bessent’s $2 million tax avoidance scandal, controversial tariff plansconflicts of interestsethical concerns, and evasive responses during his confirmation hearing, his nomination passed the Republican-controlled Senate. 

During his hearing, Bessent dodged substantive answers about how the Trump administration plans to address economic struggles facing working- and middle-class Americans. Particularly troubling were his responses on climate-related financial risks, a driving force behind inflation and economic strain. Bessent offered no clear strategies, suggesting the administration lacks even a basic framework to address these urgent challenges. 

When questioned about the costly climate-driven insurance crisis, Bessent merely promised to evaluate the Federal Insurance Office’s (FIO) work and emphasized his support for the status quo state-based system of insurance regulation. Notably, congressional Republicans recently announced plans to introduce legislation to eliminate the FIO, which has just released the most comprehensive data on homeowners insurance and climate risks to date. Meanwhile, insurance companies reported record profits in 2023 and are holding over $1 trillion in surpluses this year, while exacerbating the crisis by underwriting and investing in fossil fuels.

In response to the hearing, Ben Cushing, campaign director for the Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance campaign, issued the following statement:

“Climate change poses a growing threat to the economy and workers' financial security, and Wall Street continues to play a central role in driving the crisis. The Treasury Secretary and the Financial Stability Oversight Council have a critical responsibility to address climate risks to our financial system—a reality recognized by every major U.S. financial regulatory agency in recent years. If the next Treasury Secretary advances Trump’s agenda of rolling back climate action and deregulating Wall Street, it will harm American families, isolate the U.S. on the global stage, and make bold state and local leadership more essential than ever.”

Other advocacy groups also issued the following statements in response to the hearing:

“Scott Bessent is an outspoken opponent of clean energy and responsible investing whose record shows he cares more about appeasing billionaires and big business than helping Americans make ends meet. During his confirmation hearing, Bessent even voiced staunch opposition to the clean energy tax credits that are powering our economy, creating millions of new jobs, and putting money back into Americans’ pockets. As our new Treasury Secretary, it’s clear Bessent will be yet another Big Oil puppet who will gut policies that have actually lowered costs for families and make our economy more resilient to disaster,” said Unlocking America’s Future Spokesperson Kyle Herrig.

“The U.S. Treasury Department has untapped potential to facilitate the transition to a cleaner and more equitable economy. But newly appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – a billionaire and Trump toady – made clear throughout the confirmation process that he doesn’t intend to use the tools he has at his disposal to reduce planet-heating pollution or inequality. The troubling reality is that Bessent, a fossil fuel investor and champion of tax cuts for the wealthy, will pursue an agenda that makes life harder for working people,” said Revolving Door Project Senior Researcher Kenny Stancil.

“Under Bessent, the Treasury Department appears poised to attend only to the largest lenders and investors. This is in contrast to the past four years, where the Department took necessary, though insufficient, steps to address climate change as a ‘unique, existential risk for the planet that will affect every aspect of our lives and the lives of our children’ and, in turn, pose a ‘tremendous risk to our country’s financial stability.’ By ignoring climate change as a financial risk,Trump’s Treasury Department under Bessent,  is on a path that could devastate hard-working families,” said Anne Perrault, senior finance policy counsel with Public Citizen.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.