Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, sought to block the joint hearing between the panel and the House Agriculture Committee with her objection, sparking several tense minutes between lawmakers.
House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) slammed the move by the ranking member, accusing Waters of throwing a partisan wedge into bipartisan efforts to hash out market structure legislation for digital assets.
"Today, the ranking member has expressed concern about the conflicts of interest, which is why she's disrupted today's joint hearing," Hill said Tuesday.
"Through her actions today, the ranking member has thrown partisanship into what has historically been a strong, good working bipartisan relationship."
He argued that Waters had received "ample notice" about the joint hearing, noting that they had negotiated witnesses, determined a seating chart and discussed opening statements.
"That's a loss for our committees, the House and the public at large, though most of us that remain in this room will not sit idly by and abandon the urgent work we have before us that our committees have set out to do," Hill added.
Given the need for unanimous consent, lawmakers could not continue with an official joint hearing.
However, House Republicans, as well as some Democrats, opted to remain and hold a more informal roundtable with the witnesses, who had already assembled in the hearing room.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Financial Services Digital Assets Subcommittee, sought to lay out Democrats' concerns with Trump's recent crypto moves.
However, he was cut off, as Republicans attempted to recognize Waters' objection and move forward with their roundtable.
"It's too bad for the ranking member that this is not a hearing," Digital Assets Subcommittee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said. "If it was a hearing, the ranking member would be protected by House rules."
Several House Democrats left the hearing room as the roundtable got underway to hold a separate hearing on Trump's crypto ties.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
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