Bessent clashes with Stephanopoulos over 1995 shutdown remarks

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into it with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday after he brought up one of the anchor’s comments during the 1995-96 government shutdown. Stephanopoulos opened the This Week interview by asking Bessent what he thought about Donald Trump ‘s recent attempts to eliminate the filibuster, a rule that requires most legislation to receive 60 votes to advance through the chamber. ‘No, George, the best way to do it…’ Bessent began, before pivoting to Stephanopoulos’s past as a senior adviser to Bill Clinton’s White House during the then-longest shutdown in US history.

In a 2000 interview with PBS , Stephanopoulos said he and other Clinton staffers sought to portray Republicans as ‘basically terrorists’ to eventually get Congress to compromise after a 21 day government shutdown in early 1996. ‘Look, you were involved in a lot of these in the ’90s. And, you know, you basically called the Republicans terrorists,’ Bessent said. ‘And, you know, you said that it is not the responsible party that keeps the government closed.

‘So what we need is five, brave, moderate Democratic senators to cross the aisle. Stephanopoulos, 64, shot back: ‘I can disagree with you about the history there, but we don’t need a history lesson right now’. A shouting match surrounding the current shutdown ensued, with Bessent’s request later becoming a reality. Bessent, 63, warned: ‘I’ve got all your quotes here, George.’

The ABC host shot back: ‘I am sure — I am — I’m sure you do. But let’s talk about the situation right now.’ Bessent said he recently read Stephanopoulos’s book about his time in the Clinton White House, All Too Human: A Political Education ‘So you got one purchase on Amazon this week. And that’s very much what you said.’ Stephanopoulos pushed back: ‘That’s a mischaracterization of history.

‘But I do want to talk about right now, is the best way to end the — to end the shutdown right now to end the filibuster?’ Bessent, again, maintained: ‘The best way is for five Democratic senators to come across the aisle.’ The 21-day standoff between President Clinton and the Republican-dominated Congress in the mid-90s ended after a compromise where Republicans agreed to a budget proposal that involved fewer cuts than they originally sought.

Stephanopoulos went on to tell PBS’s Chris Bury of the strategy he and others employed at the time: ‘Our strategy was very simple. ‘We couldn’t buckle, and we had to say that they were blackmailing the country to get their way. ‘In order to get their tax cut, they were willing to shut down the government, throw the country into default for the first time in its history and cut Medicare, Social Security, education and the environment just so they could get their way.

‘And we were trying to say that they were basically terrorists, and it worked.’ In a 60-to-40 vote Sunday night, the Senate cleared the way for a spending deal to end the government shutdown that does not include a compromise. As Bessent predicted, a group of Democrats defied party lines to vote with Republicans.