The Scoop
Sen. Lindsey Graham is pushing for fellow South Carolinian Scott Bessent to be Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary, which would fend off a late charge by Howard Lutnick and end a waiting game on Wall Street.
A close Trump ally, Graham said both he and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the incoming Banking chairman, both have a “good opinion” of Bessent and that he has spoken to Trump’s transition team about Bessent, a low-key investor from the Palmetto State.
“I think he’d be outstanding. He’s from South Carolina, I know him well, he’s highly qualified,” Graham told Semafor in an interview on Thursday. “I think he’s been well-vetted.”
Treasury is one of the biggest question marks for Trump’s Cabinet after the incoming president selected a bevy of positions, some conventional and some controversial, for his incoming administration. Lutnick, CEO of brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, is one of Trump’s transition co-chairs and is making a bid for the job, according to people familiar with the matter.