"How can you say it was successful?" The 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 on the day Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended his bond buybacks to Congress. Rep. Jim Himes also challenged Bessent's claim that Democrats are "poisoning" the consumer sentiment survey.

On September 15, 2026, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) questioned Secretary Bessent at the House Financial Services Committee's annual hearing on the international financial system. Himes raised falling consumer sentiment, got Bessent to agree on a working definition of communism, applied it to the federal government's ownership stakes in private companies, and pressed him on Treasury's bond buybacks and its cash account.

In this video:
- The University of Michigan's September reading fell to 47.8. The survey's own director reported that Democrats and Republicans alike posted sizable declines.
- The 10-year yield touched 5.04% during the week of the hearing, its highest since July 2007, even after Treasury expanded its buybacks.
- Treasury's buyback program began in May 2024, under the previous administration. What changed in August was the size.
- Wall Street analysts warned the surprise expansion broke Treasury's "regular and predictable" principle. Treasury says no auction schedule changed.
- Two senior Treasury officials told CNBC the Treasury General Account, about $935 billion in late August, could help fund buybacks.
- Bessent's cut-off answer: the case for federal stakes in critical minerals and other strategic industries, in full.

CHECKING MY OWN SIDE:
- Himes said the government owns 39 companies. The Council on Foreign Relations counts 39 deals, not companies, including quasi-equity such as warrants.
- Himes asked whether any administration since FDR has taken stakes in this many companies. During the 2008 crisis, Treasury bought preferred stock in 707 financial institutions and took majority stakes in GM and AIG.
- "Bribe" is Himes's characterization of the $5,000 promise. Legal experts are split, and UCLA election law professor Rick Hasen says Trump would have a strong First Amendment defense.

IN FAIRNESS:
- The bond selloff is global, driven by oil above $100, inflation and a Federal Reserve rate hike, not by one Treasury decision.
- Measured from January 2025, U.S. 10-year yields have risen less than in other G7 economies.
- The Michigan survey does show fewer self-identified Republican respondents since 2025. The university attributes that to a national shift and says independents alone show the same trend.
- Bessent argues yields would have risen further without the buybacks. That counterfactual can't be proven either way.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
As of publication, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on September 16 for the first time since July 2023, and the 10-year yield eased back below 5%. The committee chair invited Bessent to answer Himes's final question about the Treasury General Account in writing.

Watch and decide for yourself. Every source is shown at the end of the video.

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I'm Sam Carter. A Democrat, and proud of it. 🇺🇸

Footage: House Committee on Financial Services, hearing of September 15, 2026 (public domain).
This video uses an excerpt of Rep. Himes's questioning; the exchange began earlier than the portion shown here.
This video is commentary for educational purposes and does not allege any proven wrongdoing.


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