Democratic Lawmakers Press Bessent During Hearing | Balance of Power 02/04/2026

Watch on YouTube ↗ | February 05, 2026 at 01:34 | 51:28 | Bloomberg Markets

Speakers

Caroline Hyde — Co-Anchor, Bloomberg Tech

Ted Cruz — Senator (R-TX)

Michael Shepherd — Tech/Defense Reporter

Sean Casten — Democratic Congressman from Illinois

Joe Mathieu — Host, Bloomberg Radio

Evelyn Farkas — Executive Director, McCain Institute

Eric Martin — Bloomberg Reporter

Summary

Balance of Power: Late Edition covers Washington policy and market news, including a softer immigration enforcement tone, the DHS funding deadline, Treasury Secretary Bessent's contentious House hearing, and after-hours reactions to Alphabet, Arm, and Qualcomm earnings. It also features Senator Ted Cruz on autonomous vehicle safety legislation, a critical minerals summit with price-floor discussions, and geopolitical talks on Iran, Ukraine, and China. Market implications center on AI capex winners, weak AI-adjacent semiconductor expectations, possible critical-minerals policy support, and dollar/Fed-independence worries.

Trump administration signals a softer ICE tone while the DHS funding deadline remains nine days away.
Alphabet rises after hours on AI capex and cloud growth; Arm and Qualcomm fall on disappointment and memory-cost pressure.
Senator Ted Cruz backs autonomous vehicles and a national self-driving framework.
US hosts a critical minerals summit seeking price stability and reduced reliance on China.
Treasury Secretary Bessent faces criticism over tariffs, inflation comments, and Fed independence.
Evelyn Farkas discusses Iran nuclear talks, Russia sanctions, and the Trump-Xi phone call.
Political panel reacts to Washington Post layoffs and Fed succession politics.

Ideas

Caroline Hyde Co-Anchor, Bloomberg Tech 7:20

Alphabet AI capex is paying off

Alphabet is the after-hours winner: the company plans to more than double capex to $185 billion, and the spending is being vindicated by vertical integration, including proprietary TPUs that make cloud/AI more cost-efficient, 48% cloud growth, strong margins, rising token usage, and expanding Gemini and YouTube engagement. Investors are rewarding the AI capex and the stock was up about 1.6% after hours.

Caroline Hyde Co-Anchor, Bloomberg Tech 8:54

Arm missed elevated AI expectations

Arm is an example of an AI-linked name that is not working after hours: even with revenue and profit growth above 20%, results did not meet the market's elevated expectations, and the stock fell about 7.3%. That leaves the shares vulnerable to high-expectation disappointment.

Caroline Hyde Co-Anchor, Bloomberg Tech 9:21

Memory costs pressure Qualcomm smartphone demand

Qualcomm is under pressure because the rising cost of memory is hurting smartphone demand and therefore demand for the chips Qualcomm supplies. The stock was in the red, reflecting a weaker near-term smartphone-chip setup.

Ted Cruz Senator (R-TX) 16:47

Cruz backs autonomous vehicle expansion

Cruz is strongly pro-autonomous vehicles, arguing they can dramatically reduce road deaths caused by human error, protect teenagers from unsafe drivers and assault, and expand mobility for elderly and disabled people. He is pursuing a national AV framework to replace the state patchwork and says he would ride in a self-driving car himself.

Sean Casten Democratic Congressman from Illinois 23:30

Fed attacks weaken dollar outlook

Casten argues that the administration's weak-dollar policy and attacks on Federal Reserve independence are damaging the dollar, contributing to a collapse in the dollar and prompting investors to hedge their dollar exposure in US equities. He sees this as a threat to the US economic position.

Michael Shepherd Tech/Defense Reporter 30:31

Price floors could support critical minerals

The US and allies are taking steps toward price stability or price floors for critical minerals to reduce reliance on China and prevent Chinese competitors from undercutting non-China producers. Agreements to keep talking were inked with the EU, Mexico, and Japan, but details still need to be codified, making it a developing policy setup for critical-mineral producers.

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