Karoline Leavitt: One Republican senator 'holding the entire country and our economy hostage'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday said U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is "holding the entire country and our economy hostage" for opposing President Donald Trump's choice of Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

On Friday, Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, announced Warsh "is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy. However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent. Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.

"My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ's inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved."

Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox News Channel, Leavitt said: "I certainly don't think a United States sitting senator should be holding the entire country and our economy hostage over the fact that he has some political disagreements with an investigation that the Department of Justice is overseeing.

"The DOJ is overseeing a probe into Jerome Powell, a legitimate probe. And Jerome Powell is expected to be out of this job in May anyway. So I don't understand Sen. Tillis' argument there."

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Leavitt called Warsh "a highly qualified and distinguished economist with a very exceptional résumé. And the White House is going to work with the Senate to quickly confirm him because we need a new chairman of the Fed, not just for timing purposes, but also for our economy.

"Look, President Trump has brought the core annualized inflation rate down to 1.4%. This is a remarkable turnaround from the record-high 9% inflation we saw under the previous administration. And President Trump has done the work. His policies are working and the interest rats for the American people need to be lowered. Kevin Warsh ultimately will make that decision himself, but it's very unfortunate that Sen. Tillis is making such comments."

Bartiromo also asked Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., vice chair of the Joint Economic Committee, if he expected Warsh, who served on the Fed board from 2006 to 2011, to be confirmed by the Senate.

"I do, he's extremely qualified," Schmitt said of the Stanford alumnus. "I think he has broad support, maybe even have bipartisan support, I don't know, but the Democrats are in full obstruction mode. Look, when these things happen there are always sorts of statements that are made and discussions that are had, but I fully expect that at the end of the day, he will get confirmed."

Schmitt indicated, "I think one of the great tragedies of the Powell era is that this sort of deafness to what should have happened months ago – in fact, probably years ago – is rate cuts. He's been overtly political in my view in his job.

"His assessment of tariffs which were wildly wrong along with most of the financial establishment. But now we're gonna have somebody in that's very forward thinking, that's very focused on growth. We have record investment in this country, $19 trillion in the first year."

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, appeared on "The Sunday Briefing" with Jacqui Heinrich and said: "The bottom line is that Kevin Warsh is the right person at the right time. And he's a very independent, data-driven person. The president believes that if you are data-driven and not partisan – he thinks the Fed has been partisan – that rates could be a lot lower and I think that Warsh agrees with that and I agree with that."

On Saturday, the editorial board at the Washington Post noted: "Trump needs to decide what he wants more: Kevin Warsh as chairman or his phony criminal investigation of Jerome H. Powell."

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