The poor and working poor who cast their ballots for Donald Trump don’t seem to have any idea what they voted for, but Trump’s nominees like Scott Bessent are spelling it out for them.
During Bessent’s Senate confirmation hearing to be Treasury Secretary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked, “ Right now in America, uh, we have over 22 million workers who are making less than 15 an hour, and nearly 40 million people in our country earning less than 17 an hour. Shamefully, uh, the federal minimum wage, despite the efforts of myself and other people here, have not been raised since 2009 and remains an unbelievable $7.25 an hour. Will you work with those of us who want to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage to take millions of Americans out of poverty?”
Bessent answered, “Senator, I, I believe that the minimum wage is more of a statewide and regional issue.”
Sanders followed up, “ So you don’t think we should change the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour?”
Bessent said, “ No, sir.”
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With costs and inflation still high, America’s working poor need a minimum wage increase.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In 2023, hundreds of thousands of American workers made exactly the federal minimum wage or less, “Among those paid by the hour, 81,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 789,000 workers had wages below the federal minimum. The percentage of hourly paid workers earning the prevailing federal minimum wage or less edged down from 1.3 percent in 2022 to 1.1 percent in 2023.”
The vast majority of these workers are in hospitality and food service.
Trump beat Kamala Harris among those making $50,000 or less a year, and these Americans are in for harder times when Trump takes office. During his first term, Trump had an aggressive agenda to lower the wages of American workers.
As Bessent’s answer made clear, the Trump administration is not going to be on the side of American workers.
What do you think about Bessent’s comments? Share your thoughts in the comments below.