The Senate on Monday confirmed Scott Bessent to serve as Treasury secretary in the Trump administration, making him the highest-ranking openly gay government official in U.S. history.

The final vote was 68-29, with 16 Democrats joining all Republicans in support. 

Mr. Bessent, 62, is a billionaire who comes from Wall Street, where he has worked in investment management for over 35 years. In 2015, he founded Key Square Group, a hedge fund that oversees investments for agriculture, hospitality, publishing, real estate and other business. 

He is just the second openly gay Cabinet secretary after Pete Buttigieg, President Biden’s Transportation secretary, but the highest ranking, as the Treasury secretary is fifth in the presidential line of succession. Mr. Bessent and his husband have two children. 

President Trump has said Mr. Bessent will help him usher in the “next and greatest economic boom,” restoring capital markets and reinvigorating the private sector by championing policies to curb the unsustainable federal debt, drive U.S. competitiveness and stop unfair trade imbalances.

Republicans have also championed Mr. Bessent as an American dream success story. He grew up in South Carolina under difficult economic circumstances — he took his first summer job at age 9 — but went on to study and later teach at Yale and have a lucrative career in finance. 

“He brings a wealth of private-sector experience in the economy and markets to his new role, as well as a concern for the needs of working Americans,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican. 

Mr. Bessent’s “background and training are tailor-made for this role, and he has the demeanor and character to be an effective secretary,” said Senate Finance Chairman Michael Crapo, Idaho Republican. 

While Mr. Bessent earned bipartisan support, a majority of Democrats opposed his nomination over his positions supporting tax cuts for the wealthy and tariffs. 

“Mr. Bessent is another billionaire ready to do the hard work of cutting taxes for every billionaire in America, himself included,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat. 

Ms. Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, also took issue with Mr. Bessent’s support for financial deregulation policies that she said will lead to “less oversight of giant banks and Wall Street movers and shakers.”

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, said Mr. Bessent was among the most unprepared nominees he’s encountered in his time on the committee, as he struggled to answer basic tax policy questions in his confirmation hearing and one-on-one meetings with senators.

He also accused Mr. Bessent of avoiding Medicare taxes on self-employment income from his hedge fund, amounting to nearly $1 million over three years. Mr. Bessent said he has paid all required taxes and that as a limited partner in the hedge fund, he was not subject to the self-employment tax.

But Mr. Wyden said Mr. Bessent’s active participation in the fund while claiming to be a limited partner is a “tax dodge that’s common among the ultrawealthy” and goes against Treasury policy and the law. 

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, one of the Democrats who supported Mr. Bessent’s nomination, said he disagrees with many of his policies on taxes and tariffs but was sold on “his decades of experience in the financial sector and his conviction that American strength is built on a stable, innovative and growing economy.” 

“I am particularly encouraged by his commitment to continue U.S. investment in international financial institutions, which are essential tools for advancing global prosperity and demonstrating U.S. leadership,” he said.  

During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Bessent touted the prospect of historic job growth and prosperity during Mr. Trump’s second term. But to get there, he said lawmakers need to extend the 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year and tackle the federal government’s “significant spending problem” that has driven deficits to historic highs.

“Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritized over wasteful spending that drives inflation,” Mr. Bessent said.

Democrats grilled him on his plans for extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, and whether he would support an income cap so that millionaires and billionaires don’t reap the rewards of the tax cuts. 

“There is no income level that I don’t think we should continue the TCJA as it was,” Mr. Bessent said, explaining that higher-income earners “are the job creators.”

Like other Cabinet nominees, Mr. Bessent has said he will follow Mr. Trump’s lead on policy. That includes the president’s plan to impose tariffs to rectify long-standing trade imbalances or bring a country in line with American interests, like Mr. Trump did over the weekend by using tariffs as a threat to get Colombia to accept immigrant repatriation flights. 

Democrats sought to dissuade Mr. Bessent against new tariffs during the hearing, arguing they will raise consumer prices and hurt the economy.

Mr. Bessent disagreed, saying consumer preferences may change, but countries hit with tariffs, such as China, “will continue cutting prices to maintain market share.”

Democrats have found some things to like in Mr. Trump’s economic policy pitches, like a proposal to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10% that has drawn support from progressive Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent. 

Mr. Bessent assured Mr. Sanders that he’s open to capping credit-card interest rates, but Mr. Sanders still voted against his nomination, given their broader policy disagreements. 

— Susan Ferrechio contributed to this report.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.