Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell should not attend upcoming Supreme Court arguments regarding President Donald Trump’s effort to remove one central bank chief.
CNBC reported Monday that Powell is scheduled to attend oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s authority to fire Gov. Lisa Cook, citing people familiar with the matter.
“Actually, I think that’s a mistake,” Bessent told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “If we’re trying to not politicize the Fed, it’s a mistake for the Fed chairman to sit there and try to put his thumb on the scale.”
President Trump announced in August that he would remove Cook from the Fed board over allegations of mortgage fraud. However, Cook remains in his post at the central bank. President Trump has also repeatedly threatened to fire Powell.
Mr. Bessent’s comments came after Mr. Powell released an unusual video statement in which he revealed that he was under criminal investigation.
“This new threat is not about my testimony last June or the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s buildings. It is not about Congress’s oversight role. The Fed has made every effort to keep Congress informed about its renovation plans through testimony and other disclosures. Those are pretexts,” Powell said in a statement on January 11.
