Scott Bessent Refutes Maxine Waters’ Claim That He Allowed ‘Strangers’ To Access Treasury Data

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday disputed Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters’ accusation that he enabled “strangers” to access data within his department.

Democrats have taken issue with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers accessing Treasury Department data. While Waters, during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, referred to them as “strangers,” Bessent noted they were employees of the Treasury Department.

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“What you did was you let these strangers into our Treasury with access to all of the data, all of the personnel information,” Waters said. “And you just opened the door. Why’d you do that?”

“No ma’am. They were Treasury employees,” Bessent responded.

Waters appeared to particularly call out DOGE aide Marko Elez as she referenced a “25-year-old … who worked for Elon Musk.” However, Bessent noted Elez “was a Treasury employee.”