Scott Bessent’s 3 Percent Deficit Target Would Require Massive Cuts to Anti-Poverty Programs and Middle-Class Tax Increases

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, arrives for a meeting with Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID).

Basic arithmetic suggests that the fiscal goals of President-elect Donald Trump’s treasury pick would slash health care and food security for working- and middle-class families while renewing tax cuts tilted to the wealthy.