Senate confirmation hearings continued Thursday for Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Scott Bessent, nominated for treasury secretary, advocated for more deregulation and higher tariffs and opposed increasing the federal minimum wage. Bessent also called for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which is projected to add $4 trillion to the federal deficit.

Scott Bessent: “This is the single most important economic issue of the day. This is pass/fail, that if we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity.”

Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, praised Trump’s agenda of so-called energy dominance but vowed to “follow the law and follow the Constitution.”

Former New York Congressmember Lee Zeldin, nominated to lead the EPA, asserted, “I believe that climate change is real,” but would not commit to regulating greenhouse gases if he is confirmed.