Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent implied he wouldn’t take advice from any Democratic politicians because “we inherited a mess” after the party was in power.
The House passed President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Thursday afternoon. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) attempted to delay the vote by giving a speech that broke the record for the House floor at eight hours and 33 minutes. Jeffries claimed the speech was to “ensure that the American people fully understand how damaging this bill will be to their quality of life.”
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Bessent dismissed Jeffries’s criticisms. Instead, he argued that Democratic politicians shouldn’t be trusted with financial decisions during an appearance on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria on Thursday.
“I’m not going to take firefighting advice from an arsonist. The Democrats had the majorities, they blew out the budget, they had tons of wasteful spending, and we inherited a mess,” Bessent said. “The Democratic Party at present doesn’t stand for anything; they’re just against everything. Let’s see where the economy is this time next year.”
SCOTT BESSENT VALUES ‘MARKET-BASED INDICATORS’ OVER POWELL INFLUENCE
“I think this bill, over the next year, we are going to see growth like we have not seen. And importantly, it is going to be non-inflationary growth, which is something the Democrats couldn’t do,” Bessent added.
The tax and spending bill includes Medicaid work requirements for single, nondisabled adults. Jeffries referred to the new standards as a “smokescreen,” claiming that the provision is a “paperwork” requirement.