Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is an economic priority, and failing to keep the tax cuts will wreak havoc on the middle class, according to President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department. Scott Bessant.

“This is the most important economic issue of the day,” Bessent, a hedge fund billionaire from South Carolina, told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday during his confirmation hearing.

“If we don’t renew an extension, we’re going to be facing an economic calamity,” Bessent said. “And, as always with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class.”

Bessent warned that there would be a “gigantic” tax increase on the middle class if the tax cuts expire.

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Scott Bessent, founder and CEO of Key Square Group LP, during an interview in Washington, DC on June 7, 2024. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Trump passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 during his first term, but many of the reforms included are slated to expire in 2025. Groups like Americans for Prosperitya grassroots network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, say millions of Americans will face a more than $1,500 hike in their taxes next year if the cuts are not renewed.

AFP announced this week is spending $20 million to launch a broad campaign to urge the extension of Trump’s tax cuts.

But critics of Trump’s tax plan, including Democratic lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and groups like Center for American Progressthey argue that the cuts only benefited the wealthy and claim that the benefits did not flow to ordinary workers.

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Scott Bessent, founder and CEO of Key Square Group LP, in an interview during the Republican National Convention near the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

However, Bessent said Trump and his administration will create a “golden age” of economic prosperity for all Americans.

“Today, I believe 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 opening remarks at 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 addressing our national security requirements,” Bessent added. “And critically, critically, we must ensure that the US dollar remains the world’s reserve currency.”

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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, this figure could reach 60%.

Bessent, who before wrote an op-ed for Fox News Digital supporting the use of tariffs, expressed support for the Trump administration’s use of tariffs as leverage in multiple exchanges with lawmakers. For example, Bessent disagreed with Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, who claimed that the American people would be “bruised” by tariffs on all imported goods.

Bessent answered questions from lawmakers on a range of topics and confirmed she would not support an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 since 2009.

Bessent said he believed the issue is “more of a state and regional issue” after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked if lawmakers could count on the hedge fund billionaire to support efforts to lift the federal minimum wage ceiling.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on October 6, 2021. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“Senator, I think the minimum wage is more of a state and regional issue”, said Bessent.

“Don’t you think we should change the federal minimum wage?” Sanders asked. “We’re at $7.25 an hour.”

“No, sir,” replied Bessent.

In addition, Bessent said he would crack down Russia and impose tougher sanctions to end the war in Ukraine.

“If any official of the Russian Federation is watching this confirmation hearing, they need to know that if I am confirmed, and if President Trump calls for it as part of his war strategy in Ukraine, that I will be 100% on board to increasing penalties,” Bessent said.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C.introduced Bessent to lawmakers Thursday, urging them to support his nomination based on his qualifications, even if they disagreed with him on some policy issues.

“This man has been successful at everything he’s tried to do,” Graham said. “He’s worked really hard. And why did President Trump pick him? He thinks President Trump’s economic agenda is a good fit for this country and he wants to help President Trump succeed.”

The Treasury Department is responsible for managing federal finances and oversees agencies that include the IRS

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.