Bessent Defends Iran Sanctions, Bond Strategy Before Lawmakers
By Tom LoBianco | Quincy News Correspondent
Click here for updates on this story
Washington (Quincy News) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the administration’s efforts to pressure Iran and calm the bond market Tuesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.
Bessent highlighted Treasury’s expansive new effort to further cut off Iran financially, including action against Banque Misr UAE, which Treasury says processed about $1.8 billion for companies potentially tied to Iranian shadow banking networks. He also promoted efforts to ease bond market concerns, including Treasury’s expanded buyback operations, as the benchmark 10-year yield has climbed above 5% in recent days.
Bessent highlighted the recent G-20 meeting of global finance ministers in North Carolina, touting that the U.S. has become rededicated to economic growth during the second Trump term.
“In substance and in spirit, these priorities reflect the administration’s approach to international institutions by ensuring that American time and resources serve American interests,” Bessent said Tuesday. “Of course, as growth guides our leadership on the world stage, it is the force that is carrying our great nation into a new era of strength here at home.”
But the panel’s Democrats peppered Bessent with a range of concerns, from how the U.S. would pay for President Donald Trump’s proposal to give American adults $5,000 if Republicans win in November, to where the money from the administration’s Venezuelan oil plans is going.
Bessent’s trip to the Hill comes as tensions have risen ahead of the midterm elections. The Iran war has pushed energy prices higher as consumer sentiment has fallen, while concerns about U.S. debt, which topped $40 trillion this year, have contributed to pressure in the bond market.
Democrats on the panel criticized the sweeping imposition of new tariffs as well as ongoing trade tensions with longtime partners like Canada.
“Boy, do we need financial literacy in this country,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif. (Sherman also criticized a handful of protesters who interrupted the beginning of the hearing and were quickly escorted out.)
House Financial Services Chair French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, opened by praising Bessent’s work and focusing on efforts by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to curb China’s expansive global influence.
“You’ve taken steps to restore focus to our international financial institutions and ensure that America remains the center of global markets, and the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency,” Hill said Tuesday.
But Democrats hammered Bessent on domestic financial concerns. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., pressed Bessent on the effectiveness of Treasury’s expanded buyback program, noting that higher Treasury yields can push up borrowing costs for consumers and that the 10-year yield had risen above 5% this week.
Bessent rebuffed the question saying that Treasury has held the two best bond auctions in the last 20 years and the U.S. bond market continues to be the “best-performing bond market in the developed world.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.






