Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday and was asked about the 2026 budget. When it came Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-CO) time to question him, the exchange became contentious.
The normally quiet and mild-mannered senator talked about the confirmation hearing in which Bessent expressed his opposition to deficit spending. Bennet walked through President Donald Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill," noting that if the secretary truly believed in cutting the deficit, he wouldn't support tax breaks for the wealthy on the backs of American children.
"It will push the deficit to GDP ratio up to 7%, but you said when you were here before [it] was unsustainable," said Bennet. "Far from the 3% target that you describe."
Bessent tried to pass the buck, blaming previous presidents, but Bennet wouldn't have it.
"Well, you inherited from Donald Trump that was here — you did, Mr. Bessent," Bennet said as Bessent kept repeating "no, no."
"Yes, you did! You inherited it from Donald Trump" Bennet yelled. "He's the first president to come back after a four-year hiatus, after we know exactly what the last tax cuts did, which was blow a massive hole in our deficit and debt. You can't sit here and lie about that. It's true. The data, to coin a phrase, the data shows that that [was the] result. Math shows that that is the result."
"No one on this side of the aisle admits anymore, or claims anymore that they didn't blow a huge hole in the deficit and they did!" he said, gesturing to his Republican colleagues. "Now you're here saying to the American people, 'Let's double down on that.'"
"We're going to give tax cuts to the wealthy? We are going to give tax cuts again to the wealthiest people in America, and we are going to finance it on the backs of the sons and daughters of teachers, and firefighters, and police officers all over this country, because we can't pay for it! Because the Treasury Secretary discovered, somehow, that domestic discretionary spending is only 15% of the budget and therefore you can't balance it there."
"Well, sir we had a referendum on November 5," Bessent tried to say, talking about Trump winning the election.
"I don't blame him for winning, but don't come here — go ahead Mr. Bessent," Bennet continued.
"Higher decibel level does not give your statements more veracity," Bessent said.
"My statements are true if that's what you mean by veracity," Bennet continued.
See the moment in the video below or at the link here.
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