Maxine Waters’ ‘Can you shut him up’ moment with Scott Bessent, explained

By David Goldman, CNN

(CNN) — “Reclaiming my time” made a comeback Wednesday – and with it, Rep. Maxine Waters added a new, made-for-TikTok tag: “Can you shut him up?”

The fiery exchange between Waters, the Democratic ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the famous 2017 standoff between Waters and President Donald Trump’s first-term Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. That’s when Waters’ repeated use of the phrase “reclaiming my time” went viral.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Bessent frequently talked over Waters, trying to correct the California congresswoman’s message about tariffs and inflation. When multiple “reclaiming my time” catchphrase drops failed to stop Bessent from speaking, Waters turned to Committee Chairman French Hill and asked for help in silencing Bessent – assistance that never arrived.

Theatrics aside, the substance of Waters and Bessent’s argument is critical to the ongoing debate about Issue No. 1 for American voters in this year’s midterms: affordability.

The exchange

Waters noted that tariffs have caused certain prices to rise and asked Bessent, “Are tariffs inflationary?”

“According to the San Francisco Federal Reserve with 150 years of data, tariffs do not cause inflation,” Bessent replied.

Waters disagreed, citing rising prices for certain goods, such as coffee and bananas. Then she argued that some of the Trump administration’s high tariffs were making homes less affordable at a time when the cost of buying a home feels out of reach to many Americans.

“One clear reason the housing crisis has grown worse is that you and the rest of the Trump administration levied tariffs on housing production goods like lumber and steel,” Waters said.

“Congresswoman, lumber is at a five-year low. Let’s just have the facts,” Bessent interjected to Waters’ shouts of “reclaiming my time.”

After Bessent stopped talking, Waters demanded a “yes or no” response to whether Bessent would serve as a “voice of reason” on affordability in the Trump administration.

Bessent was having none of it.

“You seem confused as to the definition of inflation,” Bessent said. “The biggest reason for the housing increase was the mass of unfettered immigration you let in.”

“Can you shut him up?” Waters demanded.

“Can you maintain some level of dignity?” Bessent retorted.

The inflation argument

Both Waters and Bessent raised important points that help explain some of the divide between historically low American consumer sentiment and a by-most-measures booming US economy.

Waters is correct: Tariffs have raised certain prices, including coffee and bananas – particularly before the administration late last year reversed course and exempted some produce that doesn’t grow in the United States from its tariff regime. Furniture, some clothing and other items that are made almost exclusively overseas have also risen in price.

But Bessent is also correct: Historically, major increases in tariffs don’t cause broad-based inflation.

How is that possible?

The San Francisco Fed report Bessent cites notes that major increases in tariffs tend to cause businesses and consumers to grow uncertain about the state of the economy. Fear of rising prices historically drives consumer sentiment lower at first, and it leads businesses to pause hiring or even cut jobs.

That uncertainty and rise in unemployment tends to fuel a near-term dip in demand for goods, which counterbalances the price increases from tariffs.

That’s largely what happened in 2025: Unemployment mostly rose throughout the year, growing to 4.4% in December from 4% in January, while annual inflation ended a bit lower than where it started, at 2.7% vs. 3%.

But the San Francisco Fed report also notes that tariffs tend to cause long-term price increases, while the unemployment rate tends to return to where it started before tariff increases.

So tariffs aren’t technically inflationary, because they don’t fuel continued price gains. Instead, they serve as an import tax that leads to a one-time price increase.

For consumers, the difference doesn’t matter much: They’re paying higher prices, and whether or not that’s caused by inflation or taxes doesn’t change the fact that their wallets are thinner.

The housing argument

Bessent argued that an influx of immigration during the Biden administration sent housing prices soaring, citing a Wharton study that showed supply couldn’t keep up with demand in cities with rapidly growing immigration populations, pushing up housing prices.

But that’s not the full story. Immigrants are overrepresented in the construction business responsible for building America’s homes. So immigrants play a crucial factor in addressing the underlying problem in housing affordability: The United States has about 4 million fewer homes than it needs.

Waters also said that tariffs have raised prices of crucial homebuilding elements like lumber and steel because of Trump’s 10% tariff on softwood lumber and 50% tariff on foreign steel.

But Bessent correctly noted that lumber prices have fallen over the course of the past year. They’re not quite at the five-year lows he cited, but lumber prices fell sharply in the second half of 2025 and are very close to where they were in 2022.

Paradoxically, lumber prices have fallen because of tariffs. Fearful of a Trump tariff on building supplies, US importers brought in huge supplies of Canadian lumber, where the majority of US homebuilders source their materials. That created a supply glut that sent prices tumbling.

That probably won’t last: Interest rates are coming down, and Congress is taking up a bill next week designed to incentivize homebuilding. That could drive up supply, which could balance out with demand once the stockpiles come back to normal.

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