All Banking Committee Democrats Call for Delay of Warsh Hearing As Trump Attempts to Take Over Fed

All Banking Committee Democrats Call for Delay of Warsh Hearing As Trump Attempts to Take Over Fed

Call for public hearing on President Trump's involvement in directing criminal investigations into Fed Chair Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Today, all eleven Democratic Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs sent a letter to Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) calling for the delay of any nomination proceedings for Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee to serve as the next Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), until the pretextual investigations into Chair Powell and Governor Lisa Cook are closed. They called for the Committee to instead hold a public hearing to assess President Trump's involvement in directing these criminal investigations. Today's letter reiterates the Banking Democrats' unified call from February ahead of a hearing with Mr. Warsh that the Chairman has now scheduled for Tuesday, April 21.

Signers of the letter to Chairman Scott include Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-Mary.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Raphael Wanock (D-GA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Mary.).

"(I)n January 2026, the Justice Department sent grand jury subpoenas to the Federal Reserve as part of a criminal investigation into Chair Powell," wrote the Senators. "The Trump Administration has also opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for alleged mortgage fraud, just weeks after President Trump moved to illegally fire her from the Board. Both investigations appear to be part of the Trump Administration's broader effort to take control of the Fed."

"As we wrote to you previously, it would be 'absurd on its face to allow President Trump to handpick the next Chair of the Federal Reserve as his Department of Justice actively pursues criminal investigations of not one, but two sitting members of the Federal Reserve Board,'" wrote the Senators. "It would also be inappropriate to move forward with Mr. Warsh's nomination as the President publicly threatens the federal judge who found the DOJ's probe to lack merit."

The Senators concluded: "Therefore, we ask that you delay any nomination proceedings for Mr. Warsh until the pretextual criminal investigations against Chair Powell and other Fed board members have been closed. We also ask that, in the interim, and before moving forward with Mr. Warsh's nomination, you hold public hearings to assess the extent to which President Trump is directing these investigations."

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