At Hearing, Bessent Admits to Warren That It's 'Up to President Trump' Whether the DOJ Decides to Sue or Investigate Warsh If He Fails to Follow Trump's Direction at the Fed

At Hearing, Bessent Admits to Warren That It's "Up to President Trump" Whether the DOJ Decides to Sue or Investigate Warsh If He Fails to Follow Trump's Direction at the Fed

Warren: "Can you commit right here and now that Trump's Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, will not be sued, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice if he doesn't cut interest rates exactly the way that Donald Trump wants?"

Bessent: "That is up to the President."

Watch exchange here (video)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, questioned Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, on whether the Department of Justice would sue Kevin Warsh, Trump's Fed Chair nominee, if he fails to follow the President's direction at the Fed. Bessent admitted to Warren "that is up to the President."

Below is the transcript of the exchange:

Warren: You ran the search for Donald Trump's Fed Chair nominee. And Trump promised, quote, "Anyone that disagrees with me will never be Fed Chairman."

Kevin Warsh got the nod last Friday. And then over the weekend, Donald Trump joked that he would sue Mr. Warsh if he failed to lower interest rates-at least, I think it was a joke.

But just in case, this should be an easy one Mr. Secretary. Can you commit right here and now that Trump's Fed nominee, Kevin Warsh, will not be sued, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice if he doesn't cut interest rates exactly the way that Donald Trump wants?

Bessent: That is up to the President. Can you commit that you will not hold up -

Warren: I'm sorry - you can't say that he won't be sued if he doesn't drop interest rates and he won't be criminally investigated? That was supposed to be the softball -

Bessent: The President also made a joke about you that I won't repeat -

Warren: That was the easy one. You know if this was a joke, why won't you say so?

Bessent: It was a joke, and he made one about you too, Senator Warren. Got a lot of laughs.

Warren: Yes he did.

Bessent: Got a lot of laughs. I don't know if you want to respond to that.

Warren: I do want to respond. I don't think the American people are laughing. They're the ones struggling with affordability.

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