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WASHINGTON — Democrats and one Republican on a key committee are seeking to hold up advancing President Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Federal Reserve chair until the administration’s investigation into the current one is put to rest.
It comes as the top Republican on the panel expressed confidence that Kevin Warsh’s nomination will move forward soon, even as he said current Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not commit a crime.
This week, all Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs — which plays an essential role in the process of confirming nominees for the Federal Reserve — sent a letter to the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, urging him not to hold a hearing on the president’s pick for the next head of the Fed until investigations launched under the Trump administration into Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook have been closed.
“The nomination comes after months of repeated efforts by President Trump and his Administration to influence the Fed by intimidation, including by opening criminal investigations into Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Fed Chair Jerome Powell,” the 11 Democrats on the committee wrote in the letter. “These ongoing efforts by the President to control the Fed — which must be able to exercise independent judgment — undermine public confidence in any nomination for chair at this time.”
It echoed what one Republican on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose support is likely critical, expressed after Trump announced his pick of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair last week.
“My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” Tillis wrote on X despite noting that he believes Warsh is a “qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy.”
Tillis — who announced his retirement from Congress at the end of his term after a high-profile spat with the president — initially pledged to to oppose any nominee for the Fed, including Trump’s upcoming pick for chair, in the wake of Powell’s announcement last month that the Justice Department is investigating him regarding renovations to the Fed’s office buildings and his testimony to Congress about it. The revelation caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill. The administration has also sought to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations — which she denies — in a case that is now in front of the Supreme Court.
Trump has consistently criticized Powell since he returned to the White House, making clear his disapproval of the Fed chair for not lowering interest rates as much or as quickly as he would like. The president has held off on moving to try to oust him, however, often citing the fact that Powell’s term as chairman is up in May.
Despite noting he is glad the country is set to get a new Federal Reserve chair, Scott said in a notable statement Wednesday he did not believe Powell committed a crime during his testimony in front of the committee the South Carolina Republican chairs about the central bank’s renovation project.
“I found him to be inept at doing his job, but ineptness or being incompetent is not a criminal act,” Scott told Fox News in an interview regarding Powell. “I believe what he did was make a gross error in judgment. He was not prepared for that hearing. I do not believe that he committed a crime during the hearing.”
Scott went on to express confidence that Warsh’s nomination will be able to move forward despite the demands from Tillis and the panel’s Democrats.
“I believe that we’re going to resolve that issue, we’re going to move forward, and Thom Tillis will be voting for Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve,” he said.
Trump announced his pick of Warsh days ago after weeks of speculation about whom he would tap for the role as the president has left no doubts that he hopes the person would seek to lower interest rates.
Trump has said that he didn’t ask Warsh to commit to cutting rates ahead of time — referring to such a request as “inappropriate” — but has made clear he believes his pick wants to and will.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, declined Thursday to rule out the possibility that the administration would seek to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest ratesduring an appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill Thursday.
“That is up to the president,” Bessent said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
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Maddie Gannon
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