Trump administration officials have had harsh words for anyone choosing to question the efficacy or legality of the president’s sweeping tariff program. As it turns out, even some pro-tariff voices won’t be spared.
Appearing Sunday on Fox News, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent turned a debate over tariff revenue into yet another admonishment, only this time, the target of his ire had recently turned out championing the role of tariffs in improving the country’s fiscal outlook.
“Maya MacGuineas should be ashamed,” Bessent said, referring to the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan organization that provides frequent updates on the country’s fiscal health and national debt outlook.
MacGuineas has spent much of the past week addressing the possible fiscal consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that Trump’s “emergency” tariffs were in fact illegal. Not having those tariffs in place amounts to around $2 trillion added to the national deficit over the next decade, according to CRFB research, and could push the national debt upward to 131% of GDP by 2036, instead of 120% as previous baselines projected.
The CRFB has called for measures to replace Trump’s levies with other mechanisms to minimize revenue loss. But it wasn’t enough for Bessent, who took the opportunity Sunday to shoot the messenger.
