Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extended a “Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day” greeting to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren while criticizing her inflation tracker and her numerous letters sent to his department.
Bessent responded to Warren’s recent correspondence in a letter shared on X. Reports indicate that Warren has reached out to the Treasury over 100 times within the last 21 months, according to Fox Business correspondent Edward Lawrence.
The secretary took issue with the quantity of her letters in his response dated October 9. He suggested that instead of continuing her letter-writing efforts, she might benefit from studying basic economics, remarking that she is participating in “tabloid fodder” regarding the Treasury.
In her letter dated October 7, Warren urged him to address the rising borrowing costs that affect households. She noted that the spike in Treasury yields is a result of the Fed’s decision to increase the federal funds rate by a quarter-point, primarily due to inflation concerns.
In his response, Bessent dismissed her claims, expressing skepticism about the sincerity of her concerns. He pointed out that while the federal funds rate has risen to its highest level in two decades and inflation has reached a 40-year peak, Warren was a supporter of the Biden administration’s spending policies.
Bessent concluded by reiterating his offer to provide a “Foreign Exchange for Dummies” tutorial, jokingly adding that if she passes certain academic criteria, he’d also be willing to include a “Fixed Income for Dummies” course.
Along with his signature, Bessent added a handwritten note wishing Warren and her family a “Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day in advance.”
In addition, he has previously ridiculed Warren’s Trumpflation Tracker on X, implying it was misleading. He remarked that it overlooks the negative impact of inflation under President Biden while selectively presenting data that supports her narrative.
Warren designed the tracker to quantify the economic losses families have faced, indicating that cumulative inflation has reached 5.2% since December 2024, leading to an estimated additional household expense of around $3,388. In her statement, she criticized the current administration for creating an affordability crisis and labeling it a hoax.
Warren has been under scrutiny regarding her claims about her heritage. In 2018, she shared the results of a DNA test indicating some distant Native American ancestry, but later expressed regret to the Cherokee Nation for any confusion over issues of tribal sovereignty.
