Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent waged a verbal war on Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) during a Capitol Hill hearing on Wednesday, ultimately asking the California Congresswoman whether it would be possible for her to “maintain some level of dignity.”
Waters had spent some of her time leading up to that heated exchange asking whether Bessent would be “the voice of reason” and oppose President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
WATCH:
Maxine Waters goes on unhinged rant, repeatedly talking over Scott Bessent — then gets finished by one of Bessent’s trademark rhetorical daggers.
Waters: “Can you shut him up?”
Bessent: “Can you maintain some level of dignity?”
Oof. pic.twitter.com/z3IXTBpfWX
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 4, 2026
“So I ask you, Secretary Bessent, will you be the voice of reason in this administration and urge President Trump to stop waging a war on American consumers, harming housing affordability, and putting the economy at risk?” Waters asked. “Yes or no. You don’t have to explain.”
“Representative —” Bessent began, and when it was clear that he intended to give her a longer answer than she’d asked for, she began to talk over him.
“Will you be the voice? Will you be the voice? Will you be the voice of reason? Will you be the voice of — yes or no?” Water’s demanded.
“A study from Wharton University has shown —” Bessent tried again, but Waters continued interrupting.
“Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time,” Waters repeated several times. “Mr. Chair, will you let him know when I ask to reclaim my time —”
Rep. French Hill, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, conceded that the time did, in fact, belong to Waters.
“Ten to 20 million Americans —” Bessent made one last attempt.
Waters, clearly exasperated, turned to Hill and asked, “Can you shut him up?”
“What about the housing stock for working Americans? And can you maintain some level of dignity?” Bessent jabbed at Waters, just as Hill announced that Waters’s time had expired.
Waters objected, but Hill repeated that her time had expired.
“The gentleman took up my time. I think you should recognize that, Mr. Chair,” she said.
Bessent also sparred with several other Democrats during Wednesday’s hearing, including Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who spent much of his allotted time shouting at the Treasury Secretary. When Bessent did get a chance to speak, he said calmly, “Could you speak a little louder? I can’t hear you.”
“Yeah, okay,” was Lynch’s sarcastic response.
🚨 BREAKING: Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent just TRIGGERED Democrat Rep. Lynch after he erupted in a FIT OF RAGE
LYNCH: *Yelling incoherently*
BESSENT: “Could you speak a little louder? I can’t hear you!” 😂😂
LYNCH: “Yeah, OK…”
Bessent infuriates all of them! pic.twitter.com/gN8dq1aTIV
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 4, 2026
