President-elect Donald Trump has the chance “to unleash a new economic golden age” in America, but must first extend tax breaks and rein in rampant government spending and overregulation, his Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent said Thursday.

Mr. Bessent, a billionaire investor and hedge fund manager, opened his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee by dangling the possibility of historic job growth and prosperity during Mr. Trump’s second term.

At the same time, he warned the federal government “has a significant spending problem” that has driven deficits to historic highs and left the nation with an affordability crisis.

“We must work to get our fiscal house in order and adjust federal domestic discretionary spending that has grown by an astonishing 40% over the past four years,” Mr. Bessent warned senators. “Productive investment that grows the economy must be prioritized over wasteful spending that drives inflation.”

Mr. Bessent, 62, landed the treasury nomination after serving as a major donor and fundraiser for Mr. Trump’s campaign. He also was an economic adviser to the campaign.

He’s aligned with Mr. Trump’s plan that threatens to impose tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada and other countries to rectify longstanding trade imbalances. At the hearing, he credited Mr. Trump as “the first president in modern times to recognize the need to change our trade policy and stand up for American workers.”

Many Democrats are likely to oppose his nomination, thanks to his stance on taxes, energy and tariffs. But he aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders, a socialist from Vermont, by assuring him he’s open to Mr. Trump’s plan to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10%.

Mr. Trump pitched the cap in September as a way to help suffering consumers who are paying interest rates as high as 35%.

Critics say the plan would limit credit card access and eliminate perks, but it’s backed by the far left, including Mr. Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

“When President Trump takes office and if I’m confirmed, I will follow what President Trump wants to do,” Mr. Bessent said.

Mr. Bessent is a supporter of the 2017 tax cuts enacted during Mr. Trump’s first term. Democrats criticized them as benefiting corporations. Mr. Bessent said the cuts must be extended to avoid the U.S. lurching into an economic crisis when they expire at the end of this year.

“If Congress fails to act, Americans will face the largest tax increase in history, a crushing $4 trillion tax hike,” he said.

Pro-growth regulatory policies and renewed energy production are the other prongs in his plan to help Mr. Trump rebuild the economy that he said has sagged under President Biden.

Democrats oppose new tariffs, arguing they will raise consumer prices and hurt the economy.

“You can call it whatever you want and try in terms of trying to gussy it up. They’re going to be paid for by our workers and small businesses,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said.

The history of tariffs, Mr. Bessent countered, indicates they don’t lead to sky-high prices.

“Consumer preferences may change,” he said, and countries hit with tariffs, such as China, “will continue cutting prices to maintain market share.”

Mr. Trump’s second administration is expected to put Mr. Biden’s clean energy agenda on the back burner, and Mr. Bessent indicated he favors dumping the federal government’s focus on expanding wind and solar at the expense of fossil fuels and nuclear.

He criticized Mr. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates billions of dollars to green energy projects.

Mr. Wyden said America will be left trailing other countries, like China, in the race to produce nonfossil fuel alternatives such as wind and solar.

“China will build 100 new coal plants this year,” Mr. Bessent said. “There is not a clean energy race. There is an energy race. China will build 10 nuclear plants this year. That is not solar. I am in favor of more nuclear plants.”

Mr. Bessent is expected to easily win confirmation in the GOP-led Senate.

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.