Center for American Progress

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

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

Washington, D.C. — President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has laid out a “3-3-3” economic plan that would require enormous cuts to health care and food security for working- and middle-class families while renewing tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy, according to a new Center for American Progress analysis.

Bessent’s proposal involves reducing the federal budget deficit down to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), getting real GDP growth down to 3 percent, and producing an additional 3 million barrels of oil a day by 2028. CAP’s analysis crunches the numbers to determine who pays the price for the plan, finding that meeting Bessent’s 3 percent deficit target would have the following impacts on Americans:

  • Cost the typical family $2,200 to $3,900 by enacting the most expansive tax increase President-elect Donald Trump has proposed—a 20 percent tax on imported goods from every country and a 60 percent tax increase on imported goods from China. This action would reduce the 2028 deficit by about $460 billion, or 1.3 percent of GDP.
  • Slash anti-poverty programs that people rely on for food security and health care by nearly a third. Bessent’s plan would still need to cut the budget by $499 billion in 2028 alone, on top of a proposed 6 percent cut to nondefense discretionary spending. This would require a 31 percent cut to the remainder of the affected budget, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), veterans’ compensation and pensions, and more.
  • Wealthy households would still come out ahead, while middle- and low-income Americans pay the price for extending the Trump tax cuts.

“Bessent’s 3-3-3 plan would make sure wealthy households stay ahead while low- and middle-income families suffer,” said Brendan Duke, senior director of economic policy at CAP and co-author of the analysis. “While the wealthy would still reap the benefits of tax cuts, everyone else would face higher taxes; and programs people rely on for health care, nutrition assistance, and veterans’ programs such as pensions and compensation would be gutted. This plan is clearly skewed to helping the rich get richer and making it even harder for families struggling to make ends meet.”

Read the column: Scott Bessent’s 3 Percent Deficit Target Would Require Massive Cuts to Anti-Poverty Programs and Middle-Class Tax Increases” by Brendan Duke and Bobby Kogan

For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].

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