Bessent's Congressional Testimony: Backing the Bond Market and Economic Outlook, $5,000 Payment Proposal Adds Another Fiscal Variable
BlockBeats news, September 16 — U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent attended a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee tonight. In his opening statement, he said the U.S. economy is regaining momentum and, citing the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model, projected that real GDP growth could reach an annualized 4.4% in the third quarter. This figure is a high-frequency model forecast, not the final GDP figure published by the U.S. government; but as markets worry that high interest rates are beginning to erode consumption and business investment, Bessent clearly hopes to use the growth projection to show that the U.S. economy can still withstand the current level of interest rates.
The second main thread centered on the bond market. Facing questions over the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield breaking above 5%, Bessent said the dollar remains a strong global reserve currency, and that the performance of the last two U.S. Treasury auctions ranked among the strongest of the past two decades. He argued that higher long-end yields will more likely reflect global factors rather than a loss of market confidence in the United States' fiscal and financing capacity. That statement amounted to a defense of the Treasury's recent debt issuance and buyback operations: the government wants the market to believe that demand for Treasuries, the auction process, and the dollar system remain stable.
The most politically and market-sensitive remarks came from Trump's proposal for a $5,000 payment to every adult. Bessent said Trump's intent to advance the plan is "very real," and linked it to whether Republicans can keep control of the House and Senate after the midterm elections. He did not disclose the funding source, eligibility details, or implementation timeline, saying only that there are ways to do it without expanding the federal deficit; if congressional legislation is needed, the Treasury will work with House Speaker Johnson.
