{"id":2564681,"date":"2026-02-05T15:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bessent-takes-flak-from-democrats-over-affordability\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:07:18","slug":"bessent-takes-flak-from-democrats-over-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bessent-takes-flak-from-democrats-over-affordability\/","title":{"rendered":"Bessent takes flak from Democrats over affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbessent-takes-flak-from-democrats-over-affordability%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2564681&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a Thursday Senate Banking,Housing,and Urban Affairs committee hearing,Treasury official Scott Bessent faced pointed questions about inflation and affordability as democrats pressed to blame the Trump administration for rising living costs. Bessent presented the Financial Stability Oversight Council\u2019s 2025 annual report while Democrats challenged him on price-of-living issues, including grocery costs and overall inflation. Senator Elizabeth Warren argued there is an affordability crisis and pressed Bessent to acknowledge real-world price pressures, noting that grocery prices have risen and that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manchin-every-senator-thinks-minimum-wage-should-be-increased\/\" title=\"Manchin: Every Senator Thinks Minimum Wage Should Be Increased\">consumer price index<\/a> trends complicate claims of progress. Bessent attributed inflation dynamics to the Biden administration and cited declines in some measures under Trump, while some lawmakers accused him of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nih-director-violated-agency-policy-by-intentionally-misrepresenting-natural-covid-immunity-study-watchdog-alleges\/\" title=\"NIH Director Violated Agency Policy By \u2018Intentionally\u2019 Misrepresenting Natural COVID Immunity Study, Watchdog Alleges\">cherry-picking data<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >scrutinized tariff policies\u2019 impact<\/a>. The hearing also covered housing costs, immigration policy\u2019s effect on demand, and broader questions about the Federal Reserve\u2019s independence amid a DOJ probe into Chair Jerome Powell\u2019s testimony and ongoing debate over Powell\u2019s successor, Kevin Warsh, with some senators threatening to block nominees until the investigation concludes.The discussion included concerns about market surveillance and prediction-market scrutiny (Kalshi) and even a question about a joked remark by Trump regarding warsh, which Bessent said falls to the president\u2019s discretion. the session framed inflation and affordability as a central political issue, pitting administration-specific narratives against data presented by the administration\u2019s financial oversight body.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Bessent takes flak from Democrats over affordability in Senate hearing<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2489573\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Treasury Secretary&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/scott-bessent\">Scott Bessent<\/a>&nbsp;faced questions about <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation<\/a> and affordability during a Thursday hearing before the Senate, as Democrats work to blame the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\">Trump administration<\/a> for the dissatisfaction felt by households.<\/p>\n<p>Bessent appeared before the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate-banking-committee\/\">Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs<\/a>, where he presented the Financial Stability Oversight Council&rsquo;s 2025 Annual Report. Democrats on the panel used the opportunity to push Bessent on cost-of-living-related issues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4447565\/democrats-risk-house-senate-fracture-dhs-funding-patch\/\">Jeffries risks fresh fracture with Schumer over ICE funding red line<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4446999\/schumer-jeffries-condition-dhs-funding-ten-demands-ice-reform\/\">Schumer and Jeffries condition DHS funding on 10 demands for ICE reform<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4446580\/thune-spars-hakeem-jeffries-dhs-afraid-shadow\/\">Thune spars with Jeffries over DHS funding: &lsquo;Afraid of his own shadow&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4446069\/democrats-grill-scott-bessent-allegations-grifting-trump-administration\/\">DEMOCRATS GRILL BESSENT OVER ALLEGATIONS OF GRIFTING IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ranking member <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elizabeth-warren\/\">Elizabeth Warren<\/a> (D-MA) pointed out that President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> ran in 2024 on lowering prices on Day One.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One year in, affordability is the top concern for Americans across the country,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Donald Trump has called affordability, I want to get this right, a &lsquo;hoax.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s called it a &lsquo;scam.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s called it a &lsquo;con job.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Bessent said that what Trump meant is that the media is fraudulently putting the onus for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation<\/a> on the Trump administration, rather than the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/biden-administration\/\">Biden administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So there is an affordability crisis, and you were front and center in it,&rdquo; he retorted.<\/p>\n<p>Warren then began drilling Bessent on whether grocery prices had dropped in 2025. He responded that &ldquo;numerous&rdquo; grocery prices have gone down, but Warren pointed out that overall grocery prices rose 2.4% last year, above the 2% level that the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/federal-reserve\/\">Federal Reserve<\/a> considers healthy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re just going to insult people by denying the facts that are out there and tell people they&rsquo;re doing great when they&rsquo;re struggling, I think there&rsquo;s just another way to say you don&rsquo;t have a plan to bring down these prices,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Inflation and cost-of-living concerns are still weighing heavily on consumers, who have been grappling with the cumulative effects of years of too-high inflation, which began spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery under former President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\">Joe Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Bessent placed the blame for the current situation with inflation at Biden&rsquo;s feet and pointed out that there have been declines in inflation under the Trump administration. He noted how much the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/2-year-treasury-rate-surges-to-highest-level-since-2008\/\" title=\"2-Year Treasury Rate Surges to Highest Level Since 2008\">closely watched inflation gauge<\/a>, the consumer price index, increased under Trump&rsquo;s predecessor.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;During Joe Biden&rsquo;s tenure, CPI was 4.7% in an annualized basis, cumulative CPI was 21.5%, there was a loss of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/survey-economists-foresee-high-inflation-supply-chain-crisis-labor-shortages-lasting-well-into-2022\/\" title=\"Survey: Economists Foresee High ..., Supply Chain Crisis, Labor Shortages Lasting Well Into 2022\">real purchasing power<\/a> for working families,&rdquo; Bessent said. &ldquo;Thus far, we&rsquo;ve seen an increase in real wages, CPI for 2025 was 2.7% and we have seen it fall for the past three months to 2.1%.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chris-van-hollen\/\">Chris Van Hollen<\/a> (D-MD) accused Bessent of &ldquo;cherry picking&rdquo; numbers when it comes to inflation and whether tariffs cause inflation. Trump&rsquo;s aggressive <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tariffs\/\">tariff agenda<\/a> has been widely criticized by Democrats and some Republicans and has been blamed for higher prices.<\/p>\n<p>Van Hollen also focused on housing prices. &ldquo;I just want to point out for the record that the National Association of Home Builders said &hellip; that costs are up. Construction costs account for about 65% of average home prices in 2024,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Bessent pointed out that the figure was from 2024, which is when Biden was president. During the hearing, Bessent also made the argument that the Trump administration&rsquo;s removal of illegal immigrants can reduce demand and take some pressure off of rent prices for cash-strapped consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Another topic of conversation at the Thursday hearing was the Fed and <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">its chairman,&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jerome-powell\/\">Jerome Powell<\/a>, who is facing an investigation by the Justice Department over testimony he gave<\/span> before the Senate banking committee about cost overruns for the central bank&rsquo;s headquarters renovations. Powell accused Trump of using the matter to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates.<\/p>\n<p>Powell&rsquo;s term is up in May, and Trump has nominated former Fed governor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kevin-warsh\/\">Kevin Warsh<\/a> to replace him.<\/p>\n<p>Retiring Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thom-tillis\/\">Thom&nbsp;Tillis<\/a>&nbsp;(R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, has threatened to block any of Trump&rsquo;s Fed nominees until the legal matter involving Powell has concluded. He reiterated&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4440459\/thom-tillis-no-kevin-warsh-federal-reserve-chairman-complicate-nomination\/\">that it still holds true<\/a>&nbsp;after Warsh&rsquo;s nomination.<\/p>\n<p>During Bessent&rsquo;s hearing, Tillis noted that even the chairman of the committee, Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tim-scott\/\">Tim Scott<\/a> (R-SC), has said that he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4445935\/tim-scott-jerome-powell-did-not-commit-crime-testimony\/\">doesn&rsquo;t think<\/a> that Powell committed a crime during his testimony.<\/p>\n<p>Tillis argued that the investigation could lead government officials to be less forthcoming because they may fear similar investigations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to be flanked with attorneys, and anytime that they think that they&rsquo;re in the middle of a perjury trap, they&rsquo;re probably just going to say, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll submit it to the record after consultation with my attorneys&rsquo; &mdash; is that really the way we want oversight to go in the future?&rdquo; Tillis said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4446419\/kalshi-ups-market-surveillance-prediction-markets-heightened-scrutiny\/\">KALSHI BEEFS UP MARKET SURVEILANCE EFFORTS AS PREDICTION MARKETS GET MORE SCRUTINY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Independence of the Fed has emerged as a key concern for some. Warren asked Bessent about a joke Trump made during the annual Alfalfa Club dinner, where he kidded about firing Warsh if he didn&rsquo;t lower interest rates. She pressed him to commit that Trump would not sue Warsh over interest rate policy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That is up to the president,&rdquo; Bessent responded, before Warren cut in and the two spoke over each other. &ldquo;It was a joke, and he made a joke about you, too, Sen. Warren; it got a lot of laughs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats press Bessent on affordability at hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3360,"featured_media":2564682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26036664278446.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[18297,45545,7375,3685,5894],"class_list":["post-2564681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-affordability","tag-bessent","tag-criticism","tag-democrats","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26036664278446.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2564681"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564690,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564681\/revisions\/2564690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2564682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2564681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2564681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2564681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}