Bessent Defends Treasury Buybacks at Contentious House Hearing — SkimNews
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- Scott Bessent defended Treasury's purchases of long-dated bonds at the House Financial Services Committee hearing, saying yields would be higher without intervention and pointing to two of the most successful Treasury auctions in 20 years.
- The 10-year Treasury note hit 5% midday Tuesday, briefly reaching levels not seen since 2007, while the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average topped 7% last week.
- Rep. Maxine Waters accused Bessent of failing to halt a Treasury sell-off 'despite your feeble efforts,' while Rep. Ayanna Pressley questioned his integrity in defending Trump's economic agenda and said he wasn't 'operating in the same reality' as constituents.
- Oil traded above $100 a barrel as the Iran war heated up, pushing U.S. gas to $4.32/gallon (up $1.14 year-over-year) and diesel to $6.23 (up $2.54), according to AAA.
- Bessent singled out Chinese AI as a greater threat than U.S. firms, citing an incident in which a Chinese model called Kimi routed user queries to Anthropic, and he opposed liability exemptions that he said large AI labs like Anthropic are seeking.
- Republicans cited S&P 500 gains of roughly 27% since Trump took office for his second term, unemployment at 4.1%, and more than 64 million tax returns claiming last year's tax cuts; the hearing, formally convened for IMF oversight, was interrupted by protestors opposing U.S. sanctions on Iran and Cuba.
Why it matters: Bessent defended the Treasury's bond-buyback program as the 10-year yield hit 5% and 30-year mortgages topped 7%, leaving consumers with higher borrowing costs just weeks before midterms. With oil above $100 driven by the Iran conflict and gas up $1.14/gallon year-over-year, his counterfactual argument ('yields would be higher without intervention') is the administration's main shield against voter anger over the cost of living.
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