'Can you shut up?' Maxine Waters SNAPS at Scott Bessent at wild hearing... but the Treasury Secretary hits back with a delicious response
Waters challenged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a heated committee exchange.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Daily Mail, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
The Daily Mail is an established publisher with a named author, but its tabloid style and limited transparency about sourcing in this article temper its institutional credibility. The article includes attributed expert comments and identifies The Associated Press as the source of one quotation.
- Source type — An established international news publisher, though with a tabloid presentation.
- Author attribution — A named author is credited.
- Editorial standards — The headline and language are highly sensational, which weakens confidence in restrained presentation.
- Transparency — The story attributes expert remarks and identifies the Associated Press as the source of one quotation, but provides limited sourcing detail overall.
The article gives direct quotations from the hearing and includes comments from two named experts, providing some context for the exchanges. It offers limited detail about the policy disputes and largely presents selected moments from the hearing rather than a fuller account of the arguments.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes exchanges involving both Bessent and Democratic lawmakers, as well as expert perspectives on Bessent’s conduct. However, its selected quotations and limited policy detail leave little room for a fuller account of the administration’s arguments or the lawmakers’ positions.
- Source diversity — The article quotes several participants and two named experts, but does not include a separate administration response.
- Counterarguments presented — Both sides’ exchanges are shown, but the underlying policy arguments are not developed in depth.
- Loaded language — The headline and descriptions such as “astonishing outburst” and “withering response” heighten the drama.
The story’s dramatic framing and emphasis on Bessent’s insults and defense of presidential influence over the Federal Reserve give it a slight leftward tilt. It also describes Waters’s outburst and quotes the lawmakers’ exchanges, rather than presenting only one side.
- Headline — The headline casts Waters as snapping and describes Bessent’s response as delicious, using sensational and approving language.
- Framing — The story emphasizes Bessent’s combative behavior and his defense of Trump’s position on Federal Reserve independence.
- Source selection — Named experts characterize the confrontational style as unusual or reflective of the political climate, with no quoted administration defense.
Republished
Republished from Daily Mail. The relationship between the two publishers has not been determined.
454 stories · 54–55 · updated Oct 12, 2026
This is Daily Mail's own score, and this article is credited to Daily Mail. The host score in the Source Check is Daily Mail's.
At a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clashed with Representative Maxine Waters and other Democrats. The exchanges drew attention to Bessent’s combative approach and his remarks about the Federal Reserve’s independence.
At a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Bessent and Waters argued over President Donald Trump’s tariffs. When Bessent tried to answer her, Waters asked the committee chair, “Can you shut him up?” Bessent replied, “Can you maintain some level of dignity?” Gregory Meeks questioned Bessent about Trump’s business dealings, while Bessent raised Meeks’s trips to Venezuela. Stephen Lynch and Sylvia Garcia also exchanged words with Bessent during the hearing.
The article reports that Bessent was scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee the following day. Former Treasury official Graham Steele said the exchanges were unlike the role Treasury secretaries typically play. Political scientist David Lublin said Bessent’s combative style fit the current political climate, and called his defense of Trump’s claimed right to interfere with Federal Reserve decision-making unusual.
Community verdict
3 VOTESCounts every outlet’s report of this story. See all 10
- Readers of left-leaning coverage: not enough votes yet
- Readers of right-leaning coverage: 0% good look
Votes cast on this page
Votes cast on this page: ▲ 0 · ◆ 0 · ▼ 0
People in this story
SWIPE →House Financial Services Committee ranking member who confronted Bessent at the hearing
Treasury Secretary who sparred with lawmakers at the hearing
Bessent's version of this story ↗House Financial Services Committee member who questioned Bessent
President whose tariffs and business dealings were discussed at the hearing
Former Treasury Secretary referenced as Graham Steele’s former boss
Representative who questioned Bessent about closed cryptocurrency investigations
Representative who questioned Bessent about housing affordability
Senator referenced in an account of Bessent’s past criticism of Democratic leaders
Part of a bigger story
9 OUTLETSWaters challenged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over tariffs at a House hearing, and they clashed over whether tariffs contribute to inflation and housing costs. Center outlets examine tariffs’ possible effects on prices and housing, while one also foregrounds Bessent’s combative approach and Federal Reserve remarks. Right-leaning outlets center the confrontation and generally portray Waters as disruptive and Bessent as composed or forceful, with less emphasis on examining the tariffs’ economic effects.
- ARTICLES
- 10
- OUTLETS
- 9
- AVG CRED
- 53
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