Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, gives an opening statement during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman, at the Dirksen Senate Building in Washington, DC, on April 21, 2026.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was making a “grave mistake” by remaining on the Fed’s board of governors after his term as the central bank’s head ended.
“He’s breaking 75 years of precedent. Every time a new president comes in, the previous president steps down. That’s good news, because what you don’t want is to have these philosophies contradict each other,” Scott R.C. said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference.
“I think it’s best for the country and for the Fed that he leaves,” Scott said.
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends on May 15th. Remaining in office would deny President Donald Trump a majority on the board, which Powell could serve until 2028.
A Fed spokeswoman declined to comment on Scott’s remarks.
His choice to remain on the Fed’s board comes after Mr. Powell and Mr. Trump clashed last year over the president’s demands for lower interest rates. President Trump has floated the idea of firing Chairman Powell, and his administration has launched an investigation into the Fed’s ongoing building renovations and related cost overruns in Powell’s congressional testimony.
Powell announced last week that he plans to remain on the board indefinitely while the investigation continues.
“I stand by my commitment to not resigning from the board until this investigation is truly completed with transparency and finality. I am encouraged by recent developments and will be closely monitoring the remaining steps in this process,” Powell said in a statement.
After a setback in federal court, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro closed the criminal investigation into Mr. Powell and turned it over to the Fed’s inspector general. The move helped remove a political hurdle threatening the nomination of Mr. Powell’s successor, Kevin Warsh.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a key vote on the Senate Banking Committee, had vowed to withhold support for Mr. Warsh unless the Trump administration halted its investigation into Mr. Powell. Tillis was unblocked in April after the criminal investigation was dropped. The committee advanced Warsh’s nomination last week. The full Senate is expected to vote on Warsh next week.
Scott said he did not believe Powell committed any criminal activity and said in March that he hoped the criminal investigation would “go away.”
“I think he’s probably poking the president in the eye a little bit,” Scott told the Milken Institute on Tuesday about Powell’s decision to stay on.
