Secretary Scott Bessent's Statement Before the House Ways and Means Committee

As prepared for delivery.Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Neal, and members of the committee—I’m grateful to join you today. Treasury is committed to working with Congress to improve our nation’s finances, create new jobs, and strengthen the economy. We look forward to coordinating with you on the President’s Budget and his tax priorities in the coming weeks. As part of this effort, I wish to highlight today the Treasury Department’s efforts to advance President Trump’s economic agenda on tax and trade. First, tax. I am pleased to report that Treasury has just completed its most successful tax filing season in years—and we did so while improving efficiencies and cutting costs at the IRS. Critics of the President’s efforts to modernize the IRS warned that the effort would result in a 10% shortfall in receipts. Instead, the opposite happened. April receipts this year were up 9.5% over the previous year.