As Washington erupted over the Justice Department’s subpoena of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, a Republican lawmaker at the center of the dispute is keeping silent.
That would be Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who presided over a June hearing of the Senate Banking Committee where he and other Republicans quizzed Powell about the Fed’s pending renovation projects. Powell’s answers from the meeting are now the subject of a perjury investigation, the Fed chair revealed Sunday — the apparent culmination of months of attacks from the president.
Many lawmakers of both parties quickly spoke out in protest of the probe and in favor of Fed independence — including several Republican members of Scott’s own committee — but Scott himself has so far remained mum as he tries to advance major cryptocurrency legislation this week. In addition to serving as Banking chair — where he leads oversight of the Federal Reserve — Scott also chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, which requires him to work closely with Trump and his orbit.
“I already said no,” he told reporters who repeatedly pressed him for comment as he entered the Capitol Monday.
Scott’s silence is not unusual — he does not respond to questions in the Capital hallways. Still, it was conspicuous as Republican after Republican spoke out against the apparent targeting of the Fed chairman — starting almost immediately Sunday night when Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina not only objected to the move but said he would use his vote on the Banking Committee to block any future Fed nominee until the investigation is resolved.
Also speaking out Monday was Scott’s House counterpart, Financial Services Chair French Hill, who called Powell a “man of integrity” and said the investigation threatened “sound monetary policy decisions.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, meanwhile, called for the probe to be “resolved quickly.”
“I want to see [the Fed] operate in an independent way free of politics,” he added.
Among the questions left unaddressed by Scott is whether he shares his GOP colleagues’ concerns about Fed independence or feels misled by the June testimony, where Powell sought to rebut allegations that Fed officials had let the costs of an ambitious headquarters renovation spiral out of control.
Pressed by Scott on accusations that the rehab project was needlessly lavish — many of them amplified by Trump and his allies, such as reports of a private elevator and garden terrace — Powell responded that many of the claims were “flatly misleading” and had long since been dropped from the plans.
Scott has generally avoided weighing in on questions about the Fed’s independence as Trump has taken aim at the central bank and its longtime chair. He appeared with Trump last year when the president went to tour the renovation project at the Fed’s Constitution Avenue headquarters. He unsuccessfully ran for president against Trump for the 2024 nomination, but never broke with him personally, was on Trump’s VP shortlist and has won praise from the president after he took office a second time.
Neither the Justice Department nor the Federal Reserve have detailed what information investigators are seeking, but a prior Justice Department perjury referral brought by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) cited contradictions between Powell’s statements and plans the Fed submitted to a federal review agency. Luna’s letter references answers Powell gave to Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) during the Banking hearing last year after Scott first aired concerns about the renovation.
News of the probe caught some White House aides, GOP lawmakers and Wall Street players off guard — especially after Powell himself recorded a videotaped statement calling it part of a Trump administration intimidation campaign.
That includes members of Scott’s committee. Republicans on the panel met privately Monday evening to discuss the cryptocurrency bill he wants to push through the panel this week — a measure that is backed by the Trump administration and many of the president’s allies in the crypto industry.
During the meeting, Scott did not address how he or how the panel would approach the Powell investigation, according to one attendee, who said the South Carolina Republican has his hands full trying to get an agreement on the cryptocurrency bill.
A bigger headache could be coming down the pike: Scott could find it difficult to move a successor through his committee later this year when Powell’s term as Fed chair expires — with even Thune acknowledging moving a nominee could be a challenge.
Tillis said Sunday night he would not advance a Fed nominee, including filling the upcoming chair vacancy, “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”
Tillis’ opposition alone is enough to block the panel from being able to advance a Trump nominee to the full Senate on party lines given its 13-11 member breakdown.
But he’s far from alone among Banking Committee Republicans who have raised alarm bells over the investigation. While Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) called Powell a “bad” Fed chair, he added, “I do not believe, however, that he is a criminal.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a Banking Committee member, said if administration officials thought Powell had committed perjury, then they needed to back up the accusations. He added, “I would be stunned if he had done anything wrong.”
“We need this like we need a hole to the head,” Kennedy said, warning of a possible spike in interest rates as markets lose faith in Fed independence.
Powell also reached out to at least two Republicans who do not serve on the Banking Committee, with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska describing calls from the Fed chair to reporters. Thune said in a brief interview that Powell had not called him, but that he’s spoken to other GOP senators who had contact.
“I believe strongly in the independence of the Federal Reserve, and I know Jay Powell to be a person of integrity,” Collins told reporters Monday, cautioning that she had not yet reviewed his comments at the hearing.
But she added that “one can’t help but wonder if it has more to do with the chairman’s resistance to pressure from the White House when it comes to interest rates than it does his testimony at the hearing.”
Jennifer Scholtes and Jasper Goodman contributed to this report.
