1:35Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, February 5, 2026 in Washington.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
In a second day of contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday would not say if Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s Fed chair nominee, wouldn't be sued or investigated like his predecessor if interest rates are not cut as the president demands.
Asked by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts if he would make that commitment during the hearing, Bessent replied, “That — that is up to the president. Can you commit that you will not …"
“I'm sorry,” Warren interjected, “you can’t say he won’t be sued if he doesn’t drop interest rates and he won’t be criminally investigated? That’s supposed to be a softball.”
“The president also made a joke about you that I won’t repeat, Sen. Warren,” Bessent quipped.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, February 5, 2026 in Washington.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“If this was a joke, why not just say so?” Warren asked Bessent.
“It was a joke, and he made a joke about you, too, Sen. Warren. Got a lot of laughs. Got a lot of laughs,” Bessent said.
Moments later, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island told Bessent, “Your behavior to some of my colleagues is absolutely childish.”
Bessent was testifying before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the annual report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council — which monitors the stability of U.S. financial systems.
On Wednesday, Bessent sparred with Democrats during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the report, frequently talking over them and mocking their questions. At one point, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters asked committee Chairman French Hill, "Can you shut him up?"
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren questions Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a hearing, February 05, 2026 in Washington.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a frequent critic of the president, again lambasted the White House's investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The Justice Department is investigating Powell's testimony to the Banking Committee about cost overruns on the Treasury's office renovation project.
Tillis said a majority of his colleagues on the committee heard Powell's testimony and didn't see that a crime had been committed, calling himself "a witness at the scene of the alleged crime."
Bessent was asked by Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey if he thought Trump's pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was a conflict of interest, given Zhao's connections to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company that Trump's sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., launched last year.
“I am unfamiliar with any of that,” Bessent replied. “I wear many hats. The pardon hat is not one of them.”
Sen. Jack Reed talks to Sen. Mike Rounds during a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing, February 05, 2026 in Washington.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Bessent also refused to retract his comments suggesting Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse killed by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis, was culpable in his own death by being armed.
“I would not. And would you like to express remorse over the death of Ashli Babbitt here in the Capitol?” Bessent said in response to the question from Sen. Chris Van Hollen, referring to the Jan. 6 rioter who was shot by Capitol Police as she tried to crawl through a broken window near the Speaker's Lobby.
Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota told Bessent she thought it was "reprehensible" for him to blame Pretti for his own death.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com