Fed nominee grilled on Epstein links and 2020 election conspiracies in hearing to replace Jerome Powell: recap

In his first public hearing, Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh faced several rounds of questions about his loyalty to the president as Trump looks to reshape a powerful global economic institution.

Trump has pushed for criminal investigations into current chair Jerome Powell over renovations at the central bank’s home in Washington, D.C., while the president continues to demand lower interest rates even as fuel prices surge with the U.S. war with Iran that has upended global markets. Warsh has denied that his nomination hinged on the president’s demands, but he repeatedly dodged questions from the Senate Banking Committee about Trump’s politicized overhaul of the Fed.

Follow for the latest from the Trump administration

3:45 p.m. — Kennedy grilled by Republican and Democratic senators over women’s health

Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came under fire from Democratic lawmakers last week over disparities in Black maternal health that he appeared to dismiss. Today, he’s hearing from Republican and Democratic women over threats to reproductive healthcare and how the administration’s gutting of federal funding has threatened women’s health.

“The administration’s emphasis on canceling diversity-related grants has resulted in less research aimed at women’s health,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing. “It is well established that disparities in women’s health exist.”

“You’re right,” Kennedy said. “We have the worst maternal health outcomes of any of the Western countries and Black women are 2.6 times more likely. A college-educated Black woman is two and a half times more likely to die from maternal health mortality than a college-educated white woman.”

Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin pressed Kennedy on the administration’s threats to birth control and widely used anti-abortion drugs that are also used to treat miscarriages.

Asked if he has talked with officials about screening for mifepristone in wastewater, Kennedy said he wants the government to look for “pharmaceutical drug artifacts” in water.

He said he has “no plans to do that at the moment” when it comes to screening wastewater to track the use of abortion drugs.

2 p.m. — RFK defends Trump response to measles outbreaks

Kennedy wrapped up the first of two congressional hearings on Tuesday as the nation’s top health official justifies his budget to lawmakers and defends his chaotic year in office.

In front of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Tuesday morning, the vaccine skeptic defended the administration’s response to a surge in measles outbreaks within the last year, saying that low vaccination rates predated his time in office. There have been more than 1,700 measles cases in the U.S. so far this year.

Next, Kennedy will appear before a Senate appropriations subcommittee to review his agency’s budget request, which would slash the agency by 12 percent as lawmakers wrestle with changes to vaccine policy, rising healthcare costs and the loss of thousands of public health employees.

12:35 p.m. — Warsh dodges questions on Trump trying to fire Lisa Cook and Powell

The president’s attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook “would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve,” according to Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Warsh said it wouldn’t be “appropriate” to weigh in when asked by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks whether he would defend his potential future colleague.

“If I stand for anything it’s that the Fed should stay in its lane,” he told the Senate Banking Committee.

A legal challenge over Trump’s attempt to remove Cook from the board is pending before the Supreme Court. Warsh said “it’s not appropriate for me to weigh in on that” as he “could be a party to that matter.”

Warsh also avoided answering whether he agrees that the laws requires Powell to remain as chair until his replacement is confirmed.

Powell’s term as chair ends May 15, and his term as a board member ends January 31, 2028..

12:08 p.m. — Warsh denies Trump ever asked him to lower interest rates

While Trump repeatedly demands the Federal Reserve lower interest rates, Warsh denied throughout his sworn testimony that the president ever personally instructed him to do so.

“The president never asked me to commit to interest rate cuts,” Warsh said under questioning from Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego. “He didn’t ask for it, he didn’t demand it, he didn’t require it, and nor would I have done so.”

Warsh, a former Morgan Stanley banker who served as a Fed governor during the 2008 financial crisis, would likely be the wealthiest Fed chair if confirmed. According to financial disclosures, his fortune tops more than $100 million, including assets in AI and cryptocurrency.

Warsh told the committee that the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates is “essential” — but before the hearing, Trump told CNBC that he would be disappointed if Warsh doesn’t immediately cut rates.

Trump to read Bible passage one week after posting AI image of himself as Jesus

The president will virtually participate in the “America Reads the Bible” event Tuesday evening and read a passage from the Old Testament roughly one week after he drew bipartisan ire for posting an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus Christ-like figure.

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11:40 a.m. — Warren’s questions into Warsh’s alleged Epstein ties follow DOJ files release

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s questions about Warsh’s alleged ties to dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were previewed in her letter to Trump’s Federal Reserve chair nominee last month, when she asked for details about the extent of his connections to the wealthy and well-connected abuser.

Emails sent to or from an account associated with Epstein released as part of the Justice Department’s publication of millions of files stemming from investigations showed that Warsh and his wife were invited to events that Epstein helped organize. It’s unclear whether they attended, and he has not been accused of wrongdoing.

In a series of heated exchanges with Warren, Warsh said he would divest $100 million in investments but refused to answer whether they involved Epstein, China orTrump and his companies.

“Sounds like your fight might not be with me, but with the Office of Government Ethics,” Warsh said.

Warren, testing Warsh’s “independence and courage” against political interference, then asked him point blank whether he believes Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

“Um, we try to keep politics if I’m confirmed out of the Federal Reserve,” he said. “Senator, I believe that this body certified that election many years ago.”

“That’s not the question I’m asking,” Warren fired back.

Asked if there was anything Warsh disagreed with Trump about, he said he didn’t think he came from “central casting.”

If he did, he would be “older, grayer” and smoking a cigar, he said.

Warren, dismissively, called his answer “cute.”

“If you don’t answer the questions, you don’t have the courage and you don’t have the independence,” she said.

11:15 a.m. — Key Republican will confirm Warsh if DOJ drops Powell probe

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who has put his critical vote supporting Warsh on hold over Justice Department investigations into Powell, blasted DOJ over the probe but signaled he’s more than willing to support his nomination.

“If we put everybody in prison in federal government that had had a budget go over, we’d have to reserve an area roughly the size of Texas for a penal colony,” Tillis said. “The problem that I have here is that we had some U.S. attorney … thinking it would be cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation just a few months before the position was going to be open.”

He urged DOJ to “get rid of this investigation so I can support your nomination.”

The only thing he found to be “the least bit odd” about Warsh is that he has “never seen an episode of Seinfeld.”

Pete Hegseth cancels ‘absurd’ flu vaccine requirement for ‘brave warriors’ in military

American service members will no longer be required to get a yearly flu shot under a new Defense Department policy described by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as an effort to “restore freedom and strength to our joint force.”

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10:25 a.m. — Warren says installing Trump’s ‘sock puppet’ is a political tactic to ‘artificially juice the economy before midterms’

Warren, the committee’s top Democrat, warned that the president’s attempt to install a “sock pocket” at the Fed would be an “invitation for corruption and economic catastrophe.”

Trump has presided over “one economic failure after another,” with plummeting consumer sentiment and surging costs on fuel, housing and everyday goods in the wake of his “chaotic tariffs” and the Iran war, she said in her opening remarks.

With a dire economic outlook, Trump has “repeatedly and illegally attempted to take over the Fed” to solve his political problems, including installing a “sock poppet” to “artificially juice the economy” before midterm elections, she said.

“The Senate should not be aiding and abetting Trump’s takeover of the Fed,” said Warren, calling Warsh’s potential confirmation an “invitation for corruption and economic catastrophe.”