Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of treasury, is being criticized for opposing a rise of the federal minimal wage at his Senate affirmation listening to on Thursday.
Bessent was being questioned by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who famous to Bessent that the federal minimal wage has not been elevated from its present charge of $7.25 per hour since 2009.
“You don’t think we should change the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour?” Sanders requested.
Bessent replied, “No, sir.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, rapidly responded, writing, “Wrong. Working people deserve a raise. Raise the minimum wage.”
The final time that laws was handed to lift the federal wage was the 2007 Truthful Minimal Wage Act. That legislation incrementally elevated the wage from $5.15 in 2007 to $7.25 in 2009, as Sanders said.
Since then, no legal guidelines have elevated the federal minimal wage. Within the meantime, as a consequence of inflation, the actual worth of the minimal wage has gone down. Based on a 2019 examine by the left-leaning Financial Coverage Institute, growing the minimal wage to $15 an hour would ultimately improve wages for greater than 33.5 million individuals throughout the nation, together with over 6 million individuals dwelling in poverty.
Based on his monetary disclosures, Bessent, a hedge fund supervisor who donated to Trump’s marketing campaign, is a billionaire. That’s the norm among the many figures whom Trump has nominated to serve in his Cupboard and who’re amongst his closest advisors.
The typical publicly identified internet value of Trump’s group is $67.7 billion as of early December, in comparison with the roughly $1.06 million internet value of the typical American household.
Regardless of their extraordinary wealth, key Trump allies, like billionaire Elon Musk (the richest individual on the planet, value over $427 billion), have pushed for cuts to the social security internet that hundreds of thousands depend on. These identical individuals, and particularly Trump, favor retaining in place tax cuts that disproportionately assist billionaires and enormous companies.
These tax cuts traditionally have been little to no assist for individuals making minimal wage.
