Sec. Bessent Pushes Back Against Rep. Waters Accusing Him of Letting ‘Strangers into Our Treasury’

WATERS: “Do you know the level, type, or nature of the clearances and security training required for individuals to access the information held in the computers of Treasury, IRS, or CFPB?”
BESSENT: “Yes, I do, and I think we would have a disagreement over the definition of the word unfettered.”
WATERS: “Mr. Secretary, did all the individuals working with DOGE who were given access to Treasury and CFPB’s computer databases receive all of the required clearances and security training before they were granted access?”
BESSENT: “Again, they were granted read-only access at Treasury. There were two —”
WATERS: “So, let me just say —”
BESSENT: “— two — two DOGE employees —”
WATERS: “— please, you can’t filibuster here. This is not the filibuster playground. And so, what you did was you let these strangers into our Treasury with access to all of the data, all of the personnel information, and you just opened the door. Why did you do that?”
BESSENT: “No, ma’am, they — they were Treasury employees.”
WATERS: “Oh, are you saying today in front of this committee that all of them were Treasury employees, that the 25-year-old who is being identified, who worked for Elon Musk, was not allowed, was allowed into the Treasury? Was that person there?”
BESSENT: “That — he was a Treasury employee, as was Tom Krause, the senior person on the DOGE team. There were only two people and they were —“ [crosstalk]
WATERS: “There were DOGE employees also.”
BESSENT: “Sorry?”
WATERS: “Do you know — were you aware that there were DOGE employees coming into our Treasury getting all of our personnel information?”
BESSENT: “Well, ma’am, there is no such thing as a DOGE employee. They were Treasury employees.”
WATERS: “I’ve — I — I tend to disagree with you based on the information I have.”