Trump admin live updates: Trump says Hamas will release hostage Edan Alexander

New York Democrat Rep. Gregory Meeks questioned Bessent on the Trump administration's claims that the trade deficit is an "emergency" and thus needed to institute tariffs.

Meeks noted that the country has had a trade deficit for the last four decades, but Republican and Democratic presidents didn't determine it to be an emergency.

"It says to me that we need to bring tariffs back to the United States Congress so that we can make that determination as the Constitution has said," the congressman said.

New York Democrat Rep. Nydia Velázquez questioned Bessent on the tariffs and asked for more details on the negotiations.

The Treasury secretary repeatedly refused.

"I'm sorry, congresswoman, that would not benefit the United States," Bessent said, citing the ongoing negotiations.

When pressed about a timeline, Bessent said that "they will be agreements in principle and then we will paper them over in the coming months."

"Once we reach an agreement, I am sure the other countries will live up to them," he said.

The Treasury secretary added that Trump has final say over all of the deals, which concerned Velázquez.

"You could strike the best deal with Canada, Mexico or even China that is completely in our favor… and if President Trump decides for whatever reason not to take the deal, that would be it," she said.

Treasury Secretary Bessent was back on the hot seat on Capitol Hill to testify before the House Financial Services Committee to discuss the state of the international financial system.

While Republican House members focused on the topic, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking member of the committee, criticized the Bessent over his tariff policies and work with the Department of Government Efficiency.

The California congresswoman accused Bessent of "gaslighting" Americans over Trump's policies.

"Secretary Bessent, you are about to go down in history as the man who oversaw one of the most significant economic downfalls in modern history," Waters said in her opening statement.

Waters continued to press Bessent about DOGE during her questioning and inquired if DOGE employees were given access to sensitive Department of Treasury data.

Bessent said that the employees were Department of Treasury employees and only given read-only access.

"There is no such thing as a DOGE employee; they were Treasury employees," he said.

At the Munich Leaders Meeting Wednesday morning in Washington, Vice President JD Vance discussed the Russia-Ukraine war and said that Russia is asking for "a certain set of concessions" that the U.S. believes is too much.

"I wouldn't say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution. What I would say is right now, the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they're asking for too much. OK," Vance said.

Vance said that the next step the Trump administration wants to see from the Ukraine and Russia negotiations is for the two countries to agree to a set of guidelines for sitting down and speaking to one another.

"And in particular, the step that we would like to make right now is we would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another," Vance said. "Obviously, the United States is happy to participate in those conversations, but it's very important for the Russians and the Ukrainians to start talking to one another. We think that is the next big step that we would like to take."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie