Treasury secretary calls Moody's a 'lagging indicator' after U.S. credit downgrade

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Moody’s ratings were a “lagging indicator” after the group downgraded the United States’ credit rating by a notch from the highest level.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Moody’s ratings were a “lagging indicator” after the group downgraded the United States’ credit rating by a notch from the highest level.

“I think that Moody’s is a lagging indicator,” Bessent said Sunday. “I think that’s what everyone thinks of credit agencies.”

Moody’s Ratings said last week that the downgrade from Aaa to Aa1 “reflects the increase over more than a decade in government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”

The treasury secretary asserted that the downgrade was related to the Biden administration’s spending policies, which that administration had touted as investments in priorities, including combating climate change and increasing health care coverage.

“Just like Sean Duffy said with our air traffic control system, we didn’t get here in the past 100 days,” Bessent continued, referring to the transportation secretary. “It’s the Biden administration and the spending that we have seen over the past four years.”