· Judiciary Insight · House · 1 min read
Sean Casten Presses Bessent Over Tariffs and Inflation
Full context
Rep. Sean Casten pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about his past statements on tariffs during a February 4, 2026, House Committee on Financial Services hearing.
Casten read from a January 31, 2024, letter in which Bessent and his Key Square team wrote that tariffs were inflationary and would strengthen the dollar. The congressman entered the letter into the hearing record and contrasted it with Bessent’s earlier testimony.
Casten repeatedly asked whether Bessent wanted to correct his answer to the committee’s ranking member. Bessent said that if his earlier answer was mistaken, he wanted to correct it, while disputing Casten’s characterization of the prior exchange.
Read the committee’s hearing page.
