Before a skeptical House panel on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended his stewardship of the nation's finances, offering a portrait of an administration navigating forces it claims originate far beyond its own borders. At stake was not merely technical policy but the deeper question of accountability — who bears responsibility when markets move in ways that trouble ordinary lives. The hearing ended without resolution, as such hearings often do, leaving the contested terrain of fiscal credibility and bond market dynamics to be fought over another day.