Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), known for her fiery grandstanding and frequent meltdowns, delivered another classic faceplant during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Monday. This time, her target was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — and let’s just say it didn’t go the way she’d planned.
Bessent was called to testify on the current state of the international finance system just days before he and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to meet with Chinese officials in Geneva. These talks are the first major negotiations since President Trump enacted steep tariffs on Chinese imports — a cornerstone of his America First trade reset.
But instead of addressing the economic showdown with Beijing, “Mad Maxine” came loaded with misinformed talking points about DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency — and its employees accessing Treasury systems.
Waters claimed Bessent allowed “strangers” into the Treasury Department, referring to DOGE personnel who had been granted read-only access to financial databases as part of an efficiency audit.
“Why did you do that?” she barked, accusing Bessent of opening the Treasury’s doors to “strangers with access to all of the data.”
Bessent calmly corrected her: “No, ma’am. They were Treasury employees.”
That should have been the end of it — but not for Waters.
She doubled down, demanding to know if Marko Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer who had previously worked with Elon Musk, had access. Bessent confirmed that both Elez and DOGE senior advisor Tom Krause were Treasury employees at the time and had the proper clearance.
“There is no such thing as a DOGE employee,” Bessent explained with a smirk. “They were Treasury employees.”
MUST WATCH: @SecScottBessent shuts down Fake News Hoaxes peddled by @RepMaxineWaters:
"You let these strangers into our Treasury with access to all of the data…"
"No, ma'am. They were Treasury employees." pic.twitter.com/CS0YhHDNOW
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 7, 2025
Waters, flustered and clearly out of her depth, even forgot she had met Bessent before. “This is the first time we’ve met, right?”
Bessent grinned. “No, ma’am. We met on New Year’s Eve in the Bahamas.”
Caught flat-footed, Waters asked, “Why don’t I remember that?”
Bessent, never missing a beat, replied, “You weren’t much better at the electric slide than I was.”
Maxine Waters is so cooked she doesn't even remember she met the Treasury Secretary.
Maxine Waters: This is the first time we've met, is that correct?
Scott Bessent: Actually we met one New Year's Eve in the Bahamas. You weren't much better at the electric slide than I was. pic.twitter.com/r6nf8IuqIm
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) May 7, 2025
Game. Set. Match.
Maxine Waters tried to trap Bessent with a phony scandal, but it backfired in glorious fashion. Instead of cornering a bureaucrat, she reminded the world why she’s known more for shouting than for substance. Bessent walked out unscathed—and smiling.