Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen publicly criticized her successor, Scott Bessent, saying she no longer speaks with him and that he has dismantled the initiatives she introduced while in office. Yellen’s remarks were reported in comments relayed by journalist Bob Davis on 18 July. Bessent swiftly dismissed Yellen’s record, claiming he could not identify her China strategy "aside from consuming beer and mushrooms" and blaming her tenure for leaving the country with the largest peacetime deficit-to-GDP ratio in U.S. history. His remarks underscore widening divisions inside Washington over how to manage fiscal policy and economic relations with Beijing. The back-and-forth highlights the policy shift since Yellen left the Biden administration, particularly on China. Yellen had focused on Chinese industrial overcapacity and global savings imbalances, while Bessent has taken a more hard-line stance, including support for the 145% tariff on Chinese goods that took effect in April. The exchange adds a personal dimension to the broader debate over U.S. economic strategy as the deficit remains elevated and bilateral tensions with China persist.