Bessent pitches moving Powell probe to Senate from Justice Department

In a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed that the Senate Banking Committee could investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — instead of the Justice Department — people in the room told Semafor.

One of the people, a lawmaker, interpreted the exchange as “testing the waters” to see if the arrangement could get Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., to lift his blockade on Fed nominees.

“They’re trying to dangle this in front of Thom to see if he’ll accept it,” the lawmaker said. “Thom, he was poker-face.”

Separately, others said that ending the DOJ probe of Powell, which members of both parties beyond Tillis have criticized, could be a good compromise.

“What the president wants is an investigation,” and hopefully, “the Banking Committee will satisfy that desire for an investigation,” one GOP member of Congress said.

But the first lawmaker was more skeptical: “I would be shocked if Thom accepted.”

Tillis declined to comment.