House Financial Services Committee Turns Fierce as Waters and Bessent Clash Over Economic Policies
On Wednesday, Representative Maxine Waters of California engaged in a heated exchange with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. The confrontation centered on economic policy issues including inflation, tariffs, immigration, and the state of the economy.
Waters, the committee’s ranking member, pressed Bessent to publicly urge President Donald Trump to reverse tariff policies she argued have increased consumer prices and exacerbated housing affordability challenges.
Bessent countered by disputing Waters’ characterization of inflation, leading to several minutes of overlapping remarks. “You seem confused as to the definition of inflation,” Bessent began.
Waters repeatedly declared she was “reclaiming my time,” interrupting Bessent as he attempted to respond to her questions. She then appealed directly to committee chair, French Hill, R-Ark., asking him to intervene: “Can you shut him up?” Waters argued that Bessent was consuming her allocated questioning time.
Bessent did not relent, telling Waters she should “maintain some level of dignity.”
The hearing, convened to review the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, also addressed broader economic risks, including fallout from 2023 banking failures.
Bessent challenged Waters’ claims that tariffs were inflationary, citing long-term data from the San Francisco Federal Reserve showing that duties do not necessarily cause inflation.
The clash expanded into other policy debates, with Waters attributing housing cost pressures in part to immigration enforcement and its impact on supply. Bessent reiterated that housing markets and labor dynamics are multifaceted, rejecting what he described as oversimplified assertions.
