On Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Bessent’s testimony descends into
insults and shouting matches
[February 05, 2026]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A hearing about oversight of the U.S. financial system
devolved into insults several times Wednesday as Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent clashed with Democratic lawmakers over fiscal policy, the
business dealings of the Trump family and other issues.
Appearances by treasury secretaries on Capitol Hill are more typically
known for staid exchanges over economic policy than for political
theater, but Wednesday's hearing of the House Financial Services
Committee hearing featured several fiery exchanges between the
Republican Cabinet member and Democrats, with Bessent even lobbing
insults back to the lawmakers.
Bessent called Rep. Sylvia Garcia “confused” when she questioned how
undocumented immigrants could affect housing affordability across the
country, prompting the Texas Democrat to snap back, “Don’t be demeaning
to me, alright?"
Bessent later mocked a question from Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., about
shuttered investigations into cryptocurrency firms. Lynch expressed
frustration with Bessent's interruptions, saying, "Mister Chairman, the
answers have to be responsive if we are going to have a serious
hearing.”
Bessent replied, “Well, the questions have to be serious.”
After a back-and-forth over whether tariffs cause inflation or one-time
price increases for consumers, California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters
asked committee leaders to intervene with Bessent: “Can someone shut him
up?”
And in a fiery exchange with Rep. Gregory Meeks over the Abu Dhabi royal
family’s investment into the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial
cryptocurrency firm last year, the New York Democrat dropped an F-bomb
as he shouted at Bessent: “Stop covering for the president! Stop being a
flunky!”
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on the fireworks.
Bessent’s performance was “not a role you typically see a treasury
secretary play," said Graham Steele, a former assistant secretary for
financial institutions under Biden-era Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The department has traditionally “been removed from some of the
day-to-day, hand-to-hand political combat,” Steele said in an interview.
He recalled his former boss having tense exchanges over climate change
and policy issues with Republican lawmakers during committee hearings,
but the exchanges were not personal, he said, noting treasury
secretaries have to strike a “delicate balance" of working with the
White House while safeguarding the “economic stature” of the country
internationally.
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Rep. Gregory Meeks D-N.Y., questions Secretary of the Treasury Scott
Bessent during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on
Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP
Photo/Nathan Howard)
In recent months, Bessent has ratcheted up his insults when it comes
to Democratic leaders.
He has called California Gov. Gavin Newsom “economically
illiterate," compared him to the fictional serial killer Patrick
Bateman, and called him “a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a
walnut.” He has on several occasions called Massachusetts Sen.
Elizabeth Warren an “American Peronist" after she told American
financial institutions not to finance the Trump administration's
massive support package for Argentina.
Bessent's combativeness is, in part, a sign of the times, said David
Lublin, chair of the Department of Government at American
University's School of Public Affairs.
“President Trump has shown he likes belligerence and he likes
nominees and others who defend him vociferously,” Lublin told The
Associated Press.
"It's hard to say that this is unusual for this political
environment. What used to be the normal modicum of respect for
Congress has frayed to the point of vanishing,” Lublin said.
What was unusual, in Lublin's view, was for Bessent to reveal his
thoughts on monetary policy — normally the purview of the Federal
Reserve — and his insistence that Trump has the right to interfere
with the decision-making of the central bank. “You have a cabinet
secretary defending the president's efforts to erode institutions,”
Lublin said.
On Thursday, Bessent will get another opportunity to spar with
lawmakers. He is scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the same topic: the annual
report by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which Bessent
leads.
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