(MSC News)--Controversy erupted Thursday during the United States Senate's confirmation hearing for incoming President Donald Trump's pick for treasury secretary.

The Associated Press reports that followed the joking suggestion by Republican Kansas Senator Pat Roberts that fellow Senator Ron Wyden should take the prescription sedative Valium prior to the continuation of the hearing. “Senator Wyden, I’ve got a Valium pill here that you might want to take,” Roberts said.

The comment came when Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, made a tough statement about Steven Mnuchin, the possible treasury secretary.

Brief, quiet laughter followed, and Mnuchin smiled, as Wyden directed Roberts to keep his comments brief. “We've got a lot of colleagues waiting, if you could be brief, it would be helpful,” Wyden said. “I'm going to be very brief,” Robert responded.

As Roberts began to pose a question of the possible treasury secretary, Ohio Democrat, Senator Sherrod Brown, criticized Roberts' valium comment, and a back and forth of dialogue ensued. “I hope that that comment about Valium doesn’t set the tone for 2017 in this committee,” Brown said. “I like Senator Roberts but I just can’t quite believe that he would say that to a distinguished senator from Oregon.” Roberts countered, telling Brown, “I said that to the President of the United States at one time.”

The Topeka Capital-Journal confirms that Roberts did make a similar Valium comment to President Obama in 2011 during debt ceiling debates.

Watch the entire exchange below, courtesy of C-Span's YouTube channel.