Bessent says Democrat-led Congress could do 'very little' to block Trump agenda

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday (local time) that even if Democrats take control of Congress after the midterm elections, there is "very little" they can do to block the Donald Trump administration's policy agenda.

Bessent made the remarks in an interview with Two-Way TV, conducted two weeks before the midterm elections, when asked what Democrats could do to obstruct Trump's agenda, according to Reuters and other outlets.

He acknowledged that Democrats oppose Trump's tariff policy but stressed that "we have very solid tariff authority." The comments signaled the administration's intent to press ahead with tariffs and other key policies using executive powers, even if Republicans lose control of Congress in the midterms.

Bessent also said efforts to economically isolate Iran were bearing fruit. "We have not seen any shipments from the oil facility on Iran's Kharg Island since last August," he said, adding that there is no Iranian oil currently at sea.

He then predicted that "panic is beginning" in Iran and that the country's economy would spin out of control within the next four to eight weeks.

On Trump's invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Florida in December, Bessent said he had not yet heard whether Putin had accepted.