Trump’s New NEC Dir. Called Workers “Human Capital Stock” and Spread TCJA Misinformation

Last night, President-Elect Trump named his former senior aide Kevin Hassett to serve as Director of the National Economic Council. During his first stint in the Trump Administration, Hassett acted as a chief promoter of Trump’s disastrous tax bill, regularly making misleading and false claims about significant wage increases and benefits worth “300 times” the cost of the TCJA. Additionally, Hassatt was controversial in Trump’s COVID-19 response, calling workers “human capital stock” and disagreeing with health experts. In response, Americans for Tax Fairness responded with this statement:

“It speaks volumes that the individual who most fervently spread deceptive and blatant falsehoods—promising massive benefits to working Americans from Trump’s disastrous tax bill—will now play a key role in fighting for its renewal,” said David Kass, ATF’s Executive Director. “Make no mistake: Trump’s almost $2 trillion-dollar tax cut overwhelmingly benefited the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations while hurting everyday Americans. Hassett’s dehumanizing rhetoric toward workers and his long track record of misleading claims should make us question who truly controls our country’s economic policy and for whose benefit.”

For more information on the Trump administration appointees, please see our recent report detailing potential conflicts among Trump administration appointees. Additionally, the report reveals that the combined wealth of his nominees and transition team officials exceeds $313 billion. Excluding Elon Musk, Trump’s Cabinet members average $616 million in net worth—616 times the average American household.