At a congressional hearing on trade and economy, U.S. Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, told U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, “You seem hellbent on ignoring the warnings of any independent expert whose opinions may not serve your goals.”
Thompson asked Bessent, “Can you point to one independent study performed by an expert PhD economist who is not on the payroll of this administration that says this legislation will not add to our national debt?”
After repeating the question, Bessent said: “Yes, Art Laffer.” His answer made Thompson and others laugh out loud.
“Art Laffer?” Thompson asked and laughed again, “I don’t think that one counts.”
.@RepThompson: “Can you point to one independent study. One study performed by an expert PhD economist who is not on the payroll of this administration that says this legislation will not add to our national debt.”
Treasury @SecScottBessent: “Yes. Art Laffer.” pic.twitter.com/U4Hc9YOQUB
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 11, 2025
Conservative economist Art Laffer was an economic advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and in 2019, President Trump awarded Laffer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as seen below.
Laffer is best known for “The Laffer Curve,” a graph that represents the relationship between taxes and revenue. Some economists argue that the curve’s assumptions are overly simplistic and don’t account for various real-world complexities.
Laffer is also known for co-writing the book Trumponomics with Stephen Moore, a senior economist at the Heritage Foundation, who also advised Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.