Elizabeth Warren rips Scott Bessent over affordability, but it’s his response that says all about the administration’s motive

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faced intense scrutiny from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during a Senate hearing, leading to a fiery exchange, as reported by The Hill. Warren, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, didn’t pull any punches when addressing the current affordability crisis.

She directly confronted the secretary, arguing that the administration’s own data shows Americans are getting hammered by high prices. “It’s not just groceries,” Warren insisted. “The numbers from Trump’s own economic agency show that Americans are paying more for utility bills, more for health care, more for housing construction.” She challenged the secretary to be honest with the public, “Families aren’t fooled by these lies. Mr. Secretary, you owe it to American families to own up to what’s going on.”

Bessent immediately pushed back hard, shifting the blame for the inflation crisis onto the previous administration led by former President Biden. He countered Warren’s data by claiming that “numerous” grocery prices have actually decreased since President Trump returned to the White House last year. The conversation then turned to President Trump’s claims that the affordability crisis is a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats.

Bessent clarified that the president wasn’t denying the existence of the crisis itself, but was criticizing the media and Democrats for misattributing the cause

“Senator, it may be a bit nuanced for you, but what President Trump is referring to is the media saying that the affordability crisis was generated by this administration when it was you and President Biden who destroyed the buying power of the American people,” Bessent shot back. “So there is an affordability crisis, and you were front and center in it.” Bessent further elaborated that laying “the blame at this administration than on the Biden-Warren economy is a hoax.”

Warren quickly pivoted to a potentially explosive issue: the president’s rumored pick for Federal Reserve board chair, Kevin Warsh, whom Bessent reportedly helped identify as a potential replacement for current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Massachusetts Democrat brought up President Trump’s previous comment that he would sue Warsh if the nominee failed to lower interest rates to the president’s liking.

“At least, I think it was a joke,” Warren said, before asking Bessent what she termed “an easy one.” She asked the secretary if he would commit to ensuring Warsh wouldn’t be sued or investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) should he fail to meet the president’s rate demands. Bessent shook his head and refused to make that commitment. “That is up to the president,” he stated.

Warren interjected, clearly frustrated by the non-answer to her “softball” question. “That was supposed to be the softball. That was the easy one,” she reiterated. “If this was a joke, why not just say so?” Bessent, still defending the president, replied that the comment was indeed a joke. “It was a joke, and he made a joke about you too, Senator,” Bessent added. “Got a lot of laughs.