‘You Don’t Have the Courage!’ Elizabeth Warren Dresses Down Trump’s Fed Nominee

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) interrogated Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, at a contentious hearing on Tuesday, calling him a “sock puppet” for the president and accusing him of lacking “courage” and “independence.”

Trump has aggressively insulted the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, expressing frustration over his refusal to support lowering interest rates (not something that is solely within Powell’s power to do). The president himself appointed Powell to his position in 2017.

In January, Trump’s Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Powell over the building renovations at the Fed’s Washington D.C. headquarters, initiated by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” Powell said in a video statement suggesting the investigation was political payback.

In March, a federal judge blocked subpoenas that were served to Powell, saying the DOJ presented “essentially zero evidence.”

Powell’s term is scheduled to end in May. Thus far, he has refused Trump’s demands to resign. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is retiring and not running for re-election, has vowed to block any vote for Warsh’s nomination (or any other nominee) to move forward until the investigations into Powell are dropped.

In Warren’s introductory remarks, she excoriated the Trump administration, accusing the president of having “racked up one economic failure after another,” with “Trump’s chaotic tariffs and ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ leading to rising inflation and Americans “paying more for groceries, more for health care, more for utilities, more for housing.”

“The president has repeatedly and illegally attempted to take over the Fed,” Warren continued, saying that his “bogus attacks” on Powell and another Fed governor, Lisa Cook, “were designed to threaten all the members of the Fed to do Trump’s bidding and open more spots for Trump flunkies.”

Trump’s reason for trying to “end the independence of the Fed” was that his “economic failures are causing him political problems, and he wants the Fed to use monetary policies to artificially juice the economy in the short term — and this is his last chance to do that before the November elections,” Warren explained, and “having a sock puppet in charge of the Fed would also give the president access to the Fed’s powerful authorities to enrich himself, his family, and his Wall Street buddies.”

Warsh “is uniquely ill suited for the job as Fed chair,” Warren declared, pointing out that he had been a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, which was “before, during, and after” the 2008 financial crash in which “8 million people lost their jobs, 10 million people lost their homes, and millions more lost their life savings,” but Warsh “said to me that he has no regrets about anything he did.”

Warren detailed Warsh’s past record and accused him of having “reversed himself” on interest rates as he “sucked up to Donald Trump to snag his dream job.”

Later in the hearing, when Warren was able to question Warsh directly, the gloves were off.

It was “critical” for the next Fed chair to “have no financial conflicts,” said Warren, citing how the agency “has been plagued by deeply disturbing ethics scandals in recent years involving at least six Fed officials.”

However, Warsh has “more than $100 million in investments that you have refused to disclose to ethics officials and to the public,” said Warren, who asked him if these funds were investing “in any companies affiliated with President Trump or his family, companies that have facilitated money laundering, Chinese-controlled companies, or financing vehicles established by Jeffrey Epstein,” the deceased child sex predator.

Warsh replied by saying that the Fed has “two tools: one is its monetary policy, and the second is its credibility,” and scandals like she mentioned “hurt” the Fed’s credibility.

Warren cut him off, saying that was not answering her question and she had “limited time.”

“Would you answer my question please?” she said and then repeated her question if his “$100 million in undisclosed assets” were investing in “companies affiliated with President Trump or his family, companies that have facilitated money laundering, Chinese-controlled companies, or financing vehicles set up by Jeffrey Epstein?”

“It’s a yes or no question,” Warren emphasized.

“Senator, I have worked tirelessly with the ethics officials at the Office of Government Ethics –” said Warsh.

“Yes, and you have not come to an ethics agreement with them,” she interjected.

Warsh continued saying that he had “agreed to sell all of my financial assets,” including the ones she was asking about.

“That’s not my question!” retorted a perturbed Warren. “Mr. Warsh, are you refusing to tell us, if you have investments, for example, in vehicles set up to advance Jeffrey Epstein? Is that what you’re telling us? You just won’t tell us?”

Warsh replied that those assets she was asking about “will be sold if I’m confirmed before I take office and sign the oath of office.”

“Let me follow up on that, will you at least disclose how you plan to disclose and divest these secret assets?” she asked. “I’m sure you understand that the public might question your motives, if, for example, billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, who you honored in your opening statement, and who makes a living guessing what the Fed will do next, cuts you a massive check for $100 million as you take the oath of office to become the new Federal Reserve chair.”

“Uh, senator, as you know, it sounds like your fight might not be with me, but the Office of Government Ethics,” said Warsh. “I have come to full agreement with them and have agreed to divest all of those assets –”

“I’m asking you a very straightforward question,” said Warren. “And that is, will you disclose how you’ll divest those assets or will you just collect the check for $100 million from someone whose whole business is betting on what the Fed will do?”

“As I said to the ethics officials at the Federal Reserve and the Office of Government Ethics –” Warsh began again.

“I’ll take that as a no,” said Warren.

“So Donald Trump has made clear that he does not want an independent Fed,” the senator continued. “In fact, he has said, and I quote, ‘Anybody that disagrees with me will never be Fed chairman.’ And he’s made it clear that you are his sock puppet, saying last week that ‘interest rates will drop,’ quote, ‘when Kevin gets in, yeah, I think they do.’ Not when economic conditions change we’ll get lower rates, not when the economy needs it. Nope. He said when my guy Kevin Warsh is in there, we’ll get the interest rates that I, Donald Trump want.”

She then launched into a series of questions to test Warsh’s “independence and courage”:

WARREN: Independence takes courage. Let’s check out your independence and your courage. We’ll start easy. Mr. Warsh, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

WARSH: Um, we try to keep politics — if I’m confirmed — out of the Federal Reserve–

WARREN: I’m just asking you a factual question. I need to know. I need to measure your independence and your courage.

WARSH: Senator, I believe that this body certified that election many years ago.

WARREN. That’s not the question I’m asking. I’m asking, did Donald Trump lose in 2020?

WARSH: And I’m suggesting you, in 2020 —

WARREN: I’m suggesting you can’t answer that!

WARSH: — the Fed made a huge inflation problem, and you certified the election, keep monetary policy out of politics and keep politics out of monetary policy —

WARREN: So let me ask another about monetary policy. In our meeting, you said you’re independent because you’re, quote, “a tough guy.” Those were your words: “tough guy.” And you will be able to stand up to President Trump. So let’s try it again. Name one aspect of President Trump’s economic agenda with which you disagree.

WARSH: Well, senator, the Federal Reserve in recent years has wandered outside of its remit, wandered into other areas —

WARREN: I’m asking for something you disagree with Donald Trump on —

WARSH: — that’s not something I’m prepared to do. If I’m confirmed, the Federal Reserve should stay in its lane.

WARREN: Just one. Just one economic — just one little place where you disagree with Donald Trump.

WARSH: Well, I do have a disagreement, actually, senator, with the president. I think even this morning he said that he thought I was out of central casting. Um, I think — central casting — I look older, grayer, and maybe show up here with a cigar of sorts.

WARREN: Quite adorable. But, you know, we need a Fed chair who is independent. That’s the only way we preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve.

WARSH: I agree.

WARREN: If you can’t answer these questions, you don’t have the courage and you don’t have the independence.

WARSH: I agree with you on independence, senator.

WARREN: Hmm.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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