Scott Bessent

Leading Trump Accounts rollout and national tour; oversaw July 4 launch

The program launched July 4, 2026, opening for contributions on America's 250th birthday. Treasury deposited $1,000 into 1.4 million eligible accounts, committing $1.4 billion in total; 6 million children are now enrolled.

Updated Jul 7

Leading the sanctions modernization push

The U.S. keeps a list of people, companies, and ships that American banks are barred from touching. It now holds more than 17,000 names. On July 2, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) struck 76 of them off.

Updated Jul 2

Leading Treasury's sanctions campaign against Mexican cartels

On June 30, the U.S. Treasury froze the American assets of two Mexican men and nine companies, accusing them of funneling tens of millions of dollars a year to Mexico's most powerful cartel through a fuel-smuggling ring. Mexico's financial intelligence unit moved the same day, blocking 20 entities: the 11 OFAC targets plus nine additional people and firms it identified on its own.

Updated Jul 1

Tasked with implementing TrumpIRA.gov and Saver's Match guidance

In January 2027, the federal government will start depositing up to $1,000 a year into the retirement accounts of lower-income workers. There is a problem: roughly 27 million of the workers who qualify do not have an account to put it in.

Updated May 31

Swap line discussions advancing as Fed chair nominee Warsh signals executive-branch influence over Fed's international policy role

The United Arab Emirates joined OPEC in 1967, when crude sold for under $2 a barrel. On May 1, 2026, after fifty-nine years, it walks out—taking roughly 13% of OPEC's production capacity, according to the International Energy Agency.

Updated May 31

Co-convened emergency meeting with bank chief executives over Mythos risks

An AI model that can find software flaws no human has caught in nearly three decades has triggered a coordinated response from central banks across the Western world. Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview discovered thousands of previously unknown vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser, prompting Treasury and Federal Reserve to summon Wall Street executives to Washington on April 8. By April 11, the Bank of England, Bank of Canada, and their respective financial regulators had convened or scheduled their own emergency sessions with banks.

Updated May 31

Absorbing student loan operations into Treasury

The federal government has managed student loans from the same place for decades: the Education Department's Federal Student Aid office. On March 19, the Treasury Department began absorbing that function.

Updated May 30

Active in trade negotiations

India has been the world's second-largest buyer of Russian oil since 2022, snapping up discounted crude while Western nations sanctioned Moscow. On February 2, 2026, Trump announced that Modi agreed to stop these purchases in exchange for US tariff cuts from 50% to 18%, ending a trade war that escalated for nearly a year.

Updated May 29

Serving as 79th Treasury Secretary

John Hurley served eight months as the Treasury Department's chief sanctions enforcer before resigning amid friction with Secretary Scott Bessent. His February 25 departure followed months of internal clashes over sanctions aggressiveness and a specific dispute regarding federal surveillance of financial transactions involving Minnesota's Somali community, to which Hurley objected on data-privacy grounds.

Updated May 29

Serving as Treasury Secretary since January 2025

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's February 2026 congressional testimony tested norms of Treasury oversight: two days of shouting matches with House Democrats (Maxine Waters asking to 'shut him up,' Gregory Meeks calling him a 'flunky'), followed by heated Senate Banking Committee exchanges where Democratic Senator Jack Reed called his conduct 'childish' and Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed him on whether Fed nominee Kevin Warsh would face investigations if interest rates aren't cut as Trump demands. Bessent refused to clarify, prompting Warren to call the situation 'an even taller steaming pile of corruption.'

Updated May 27

Lead U.S. negotiator on China trade

In April 2025, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods peaked at 145 percent. Nine months later, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping describe their relationship as 'extremely good' and are planning four bilateral summits in 2026, including Trump's first visit to Beijing since 2017.

Updated May 27

Balancing sanctions enforcement with short‑term relief measures, including consideration of easing some Russian oil sanctions to counter war‑related supply shocks.

Since late 2022, the Group of Seven and allies have capped Russia's seaborne crude price using dominance in shipping and insurance. In February 2026, the EU and UK reduced the cap to $44.10 per barrel while the US kept its own $60 ceiling.

Updated May 26

Currently serving dual role after Billy Long's removal

The IRS opened the 2026 tax filing season January 26, launching the first implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025. The law extends 2017 tax provisions set to expire December 2025 and adds deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest, and seniors.

Updated May 26

Announced sanctions on Iranian officials

The December 2025 uprising was suppressed at massive cost. HRANA's February 23 report, 'The Crimson Winter,' verified 7,007 deaths—6,488 adult protesters, 236 minors, 207 security forces, and 76 bystanders—with another 11,744 cases still under review. President Pezeshkian publicly apologized for the massacres on February 11.

Updated May 26

Publicly criticized EU-India trade deal

India and the European Union became strategic partners in 2004. At the 16th EU-India Summit on January 27, 2026, they signed a Security and Defence Partnership, making India the third Asian country (after Japan and South Korea) to gain formal access to European defence initiatives. They also concluded a historic free trade agreement (covering 2 billion people and a $27 trillion combined market) that enters force in 2027, giving Indian firms access to the EU's €150 billion SAFE rearmament programme.

Updated May 23

Defending Trump's Greenland approach at Davos

The United States has operated military bases in Greenland since 1941, under agreements with Denmark. On January 15, 2026, NATO allies deployed troops to the island to counter U.S. pressure after American-Danish talks collapsed. On January 17, President Trump announced 10% tariffs on eight European countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The tariffs will rise to 25% by June unless 'a deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.' On January 20, Trump declared on Truth Social that 'there can be no going back' on Greenland, calling it 'imperative for National and World Security.' That same day, Denmark deployed its Army Chief, General Peter Boysen, alongside 58 additional troops to Greenland, bringing total Danish military presence to approximately 178 personnel for Operation Arctic Endurance.

Updated May 21

Lead implementer of the executive order

For 23 years, federal rules let Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers stand in for Social Security numbers when opening a bank account. A Trump executive order now tells regulators to treat ITIN use as a potential fraud and trafficking red flag, moving the compliance burden onto banks.

Updated May 21

Expressed opposition to Powell investigation internally

On January 30, 2026, President Trump nominated former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair when Powell's term expires in May. Gold, which had surged to a record $5,626 per ounce amid the constitutional crisis over Powell's criminal investigation, plunged 11% in hours as investors bet Warsh would preserve central bank independence.

Updated May 20

Privately opposed to Powell investigation

No president has ever criminally investigated a sitting Federal Reserve chair. When Trump's Justice Department served Jerome Powell with grand jury subpoenas on January 11, two Republican senators announced they would block all Fed nominees until the probe ends. With a 13-11 GOP majority on the Banking Committee, even one defection creates a confirmation stalemate.

Updated May 20

Leading search for Powell's replacement; expects announcement in January 2026

For the fifth consecutive year, U.S. inflation will finish above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. December's CPI report showed prices rising 2.7% year-over-year—unchanged from November and 0.7 percentage points above the Fed's goal.

Updated May 20

Leading U.S. delegation at Seoul pre-summit trade talks with He Lifeng

The legal foundation for Trump's tariff strategy collapsed on February 20 when the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. The decision voided both the 25% Iran secondary levy and other emergency-based duties on China. Trump signed a 10% global replacement under Section 122 of the Trade Act within hours, dropping China's effective rate from 47% to about 35%.

Updated May 20

Overseeing FinCEN's review and potential revision of investment adviser AML rule

FinCEN just delayed anti-money laundering rules for investment advisers by two years, pushing compliance from January 2026 to January 2028. It's the fourth time since 2002 that federal regulators have tried—and struggled—to close what transparency advocates call a $125 trillion loophole. Sanctioned Russian oligarchs, corrupt foreign officials, and fraudsters exploit it to access U.S. markets.

Updated May 19

Driving an expanded Iran sanctions enforcement campaign under NSPM-2

Treasury just hit Iran's oil-smuggling "shadow fleet" where it actually hurts: the ships. On December 18, 2025, OFAC blocked 29 vessels and a web of managers and front-company operators that keep Iranian oil moving when the paperwork is fake and the GPS goes dark.

Updated May 15

Led first Russia sanctions action of Trump's second term with Rosneft/Lukoil designations in October 2025

Sanctions are supposed to close doors. On December 17, the U.S. quietly propped two doors back open again, even as it slammed others shut. One narrow lane keeps Sakhalin-2 crude flowing to Japan; the other preserves financial channels for civil nuclear projects, even when payments touch sanctioned Russian banks—both running through June 18, 2026.

Updated May 15

Leading Treasury’s cartel-focused sanctions push

Treasury sanctioned the Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) and its jailed leader José Antonio Yépez Ortiz ("El Marro") on December 17, 2025. Washington's campaign against huachicol money then shifted toward the infrastructure that makes stolen hydrocarbons tradable: shipping, routing, and due diligence.

Updated May 15

Expanded financial pressure with new Venezuela-linked designations and a Citgo-related licensing move that intersects with creditor litigation and asset-sale proceedings.

Trump's Venezuela "blockade" threat is now backed by policy. Washington has added new Venezuela-linked sanctions and also targeted Iran's shadow-fleet network. Together, these expand the pool of already-sanctioned vessels that the U.S. Navy could board if they try to trade with Venezuela.

Updated May 15

Leads implementation of sanctions and waivers governing Lukoil’s asset sales

First the US froze Lukoil's assets. Now it's effectively forcing Russia's biggest private oil company to auction off its global business. A fresh Treasury waiver gives buyers until January 17, 2026 to lock in deals for oilfields, refineries and thousands of gas stations worth about $22 billion.

Updated May 10

Key player in tariff strategy and financing of farm aid; recently divested a large soybean farm

Since 2018, U.S. farmers have been caught in Trump-era tariff battles—first the U.S.–China trade war, now tariffs on China, Canada, Mexico, and others. To counter lost exports and depressed prices, the Trump administrations funded large farm aid through the Agriculture Department's Commodity Credit Corporation: $12 billion in 2018, $16 billion in 2019.

Updated May 10

Under sustained ethics scrutiny; has now divested North Dakota farmland but faces questions about earlier decisions

Scott Bessent became Treasury Secretary in January 2025. An ethics agreement required him to sell substantial holdings, including up to $25 million in North Dakota soybean and corn farmland that earned as much as $1 million a year in rent. After months of delays, the Office of Government Ethics warned him in August 2025 that he'd failed to comply on time.

Updated May 10

Advocating a deregulatory shift and a reevaluation of FSOC’s post-crisis approach as leveraged-lending guardrails are rolled back

In March 2013, U.S. bank regulators issued joint supervisory guidance on leveraged lending to prevent a return of pre-2008-style underwriting excesses, with examiners informally anchoring scrutiny around a roughly six-times-EBITDA leverage benchmark. Over the next decade, banks' pullback shifted riskier deal finance toward private-credit funds, CLOs, and other nonbanks—expanding an opaque "shadow banking" ecosystem even as regulators maintained the guidance was supervisory, not a binding rule.

Updated May 9