U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent entered a convoluted tussle on Capitol Hill Wednesday about the nature of Bitcoin, after fielding a question from a congressman about the token’s potential role in a future financial crisis.
“Does the Treasury Department… have the authority to bail out Bitcoin?” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked Bessent today, during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.
The Treasury Secretary paused for a moment before asking Sherman to elaborate.
“What exactly does ‘bail out Bitcoin’ mean?” Bessent replied.
Sherman then pivoted by asking Bessent if he could ever order U.S. banks to buy Bitcoin.
“I do not have the authority to do that,” Bessent answered.
After several more starts and stops, Sherman eventually asked if U.S. taxpayer dollars would ever be invested in crypto assets under the Treasury Secretary’s watch.
Bessent declined to discuss the deal, replying only that the OCC is independent. He then launched into accusations about a trip Meeks reportedly took to Venezuela in 2006. Meeks and Bessent shouted at each other for several seconds after that, before the argument was eventually broken up by committee chair French Hill (R-AR).
“Stop covering for the president!” Meeks yelled. “Don’t be a flunky, work for the American people!”
