Republican Senator Accuses Treasury Secretary Yellen of Lying about President Biden’s Willingness to Meet with Republicans to Discuss Social Security
A Republican senator accused Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen of lying during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Thursday. The accusation was made after Senator Bill Cassidy repeatedly told Yellen that President Joe Biden was not willing to meet with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss problems with Social Security.
Cassidy asked Yellen, “Why doesn’t the President care?” to which she replied, “He cares very deeply.” Cassidy persisted and asked, “Then where is his plan?” Yellen responded by saying, “He stands ready to work with Congress,” to which Cassidy dismissed as “empirically” not true.
The exchange was a break in decorum that drew an admonishment from the panel’s Democratic chairman, Ron Wyden. Accusing witnesses of lying is over the line,” said Wyden.
Cassidy defended his line of questioning by stating that he was not accusing the Treasury secretary of lying and understood that she was simply repeating what she had been told.
Later in the hearing, another Republican senator, Ron Johnson, exhibited impatience with Yellen when he asked her about the total deficits over the 10-year period covered in President Biden’s budget. When Yellen paused to look at some documents, Johnson quipped, “You don’t know that off the top of your head?”
This display of impatience and accusations of lying is a departure from the decorum usually upheld in the Senate, and the respect typically afforded to Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair.
Yellen later finished saying that President Biden stands ready to work with Congress to address future shortfalls in Social Security. The hearing centered on President Biden’s proposed $6 trillion budget plan, which includes spending on infrastructure, education, climate change, and other priorities.
It remains to be seen whether this exchange will have any impact on the ongoing discussions between Republicans and Democrats regarding President Biden’s proposed budget plan. Still, it is clear that tensions are running high in Congress as both sides try to find a way forward on important issues like Social Security and infrastructure spending.
