Sen. Elizabeth Warren (left) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on February 5, 2026.
Getty Images | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday did not rule out a criminal investigation against Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, if he refuses to cut interest rates.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, asked Bessent about President Trump’s joke over the weekend that he would sue Mr. Warsh if he didn’t lower interest rates to his liking.
“I know you were kidding, but just to be clear, Mr. Secretary, it’s simple. Can you promise me right now that if President Trump’s Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, doesn’t cut rates the way President Donald Trump wants, he won’t be sued and won’t be investigated by the Justice Department?” Warren asked.
When the questioning devolved into small talk, Bessent said, “That’s up to the president.”
The U.S. president typically leaves interest rate decisions to the Fed, and there is a metaphorical firewall between the independent board and the White House.
Bessent’s testimony before the Senate committee was his second appearance on Capitol Hill in recent days. He was roundly criticized by Democrats Wednesday during a controversial House Financial Services Committee hearing. Local Democrats pressed Bessent on tariffs and inflation, regulation of cryptocurrencies and a hot topic: the independence of the Federal Reserve.
President Trump has targeted Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in recent months for refusing to lower interest rates in line with his wishes. Chairman Jerome Powell announced on January 11 that the Federal Reserve is the subject of an unprecedented investigation by the Department of Justice over cost overruns for renovations to its headquarters.
Trump’s critics have characterized the investigation, based in part on testimony Powell gave before the Senate Banking Committee last year, as a thinly veiled attempt to shore up an independent central bank.
Commissioner Tim Scott (R.S.C.) said in testimony this week that he did not believe Mr. Powell committed a crime. Sen. Thom Tillis (RN.C.), a member of the committee, also vowed to block Warsh’s nomination unless the investigation into Powell is halted. Chairman Powell’s term ends in May. Meanwhile, President Trump stepped up the investigation earlier this week.
Warren and her Democratic colleagues on the committee also urged Scott to hold off on Warsh’s nomination until the investigation into Powell and Federal Reserve President Lisa Cook, who is under investigation for mortgage fraud, is completed.
“Donald Trump has been trying to take over the Federal Reserve for months,” Warren said before Thursday’s hearing. “He’s threatening to fire Jerome Powell. He started a fake criminal investigation against him. He started a fake investigation to try to fire Lisa Cook. And now he wants to appoint a subordinate at the Fed who will do exactly what he said he would do.”
“It’s a takeover,” Warren continued.
