Waters accused DOGE, led by Elon Musk, of having “unfettered” access to sensitive systems. Bessent denied this, saying DOGE had only read-only access and reminded Waters, “There’s no such thing as a DOGE employee.”

In a tense exchange, Waters interrupted Bessent and accused him of giving outsiders full access to Treasury data. She also appeared to forget a past meeting with Bessent in the Bahamas, which he gently reminded her of.

Bessent is currently the most popular Trump Cabinet member with a +14 net approval rating. Trump’s own approval has also risen, especially among young voters and Black voters, despite recent trade-related backlash.