Raised voices at a hearing starring the Treasury Secretary. I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be on Capitol Hill again today for a second day of questions this time before the Senate Banking Committee. Yesterday, Besson sparred with Democrats at a tense encounter before a House committee. Marketplaces Nancy Marshall-Genzor reports.

Officially, Treasury Secretary Besson appeared before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday to talk about oversight of the U.S. financial system.

But the hearing heated up right away with this fiery exchange between Besson and the ranking Democrat, Maxine Waters of California, over whether

tariffs cause inflation.

Reclaiming my time.

The biggest reason.

The housing was a mass unlettered immigration.

Waters had asked Besson about a letter to investors.

He co-wrote when he was at Key Square Capital Management.

In the letter, Bessent says tariffs are

inflationary. Besant was pressed again about the letter later in the hearing and said this.

If I was mistaken, I want to correct it. And I was also mistaken when I said the tariffs could be

inflationary. The sparring and personal insults got so intense that Democrat Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri started his questioning time off with this.

This is an embarrassing kind of a hearing.

Cleaver went on to ask Besson if he believed in the independence of the Federal Reserve.

The Treasury Secretary said he did, but he also believed in accountability.

Asked what he meant.

Besson said this.

The Federal Reserve lost the trust of American people when it allowed the greatest inflation

of 49 years to ravage, ravage working people in this country.

Besson said he had no opinion on whether President Trump has the authority

to fire a member of the Fed's board of governors. The Supreme Court heard arguments last month on

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