Trump ‘is getting desperate,’ Mass. Sen. Warren says as US Senate panel advances his Fed pick

The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, calling it part of an improper attempt to control the central bank.

A vote by the full Senate to confirm Kevin Warsh to run the Fed would bring Republican Trump “one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize control of the Fed and to artificially juice the economy,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Wednesday.

The panel voted 13-11, in a rare party-line vote, to send Warsh’s nomination to the Republican-controlled Senate floor for a vote.

If approved, he will replace current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who has been a target of constant criticism from Trump.

In remarks before the vote, Warren, the committee’s ranking Democrat, argued that “the Trump economy is in real trouble: Inflation is up. Job creation is down. The stink of stagflation is in the air. And President Trump is getting desperate.”

The procedural vote came ahead of the Fed’s expected announcement on its latest decision on interest rates — possibly for the last time under Powell, CNBC reported.

The panel had no business voting to advance Warsh’s nomination, the Cambridge pol argued.

“Trump has not been subtle about his takeover. He’s threatened to fire the Fed chair, he’s actually tried to fire a Fed governor, and he’s started not one, but two bogus criminal investigations to push them out,” Warren told her colleagues.

“When this committee refused to move on his new nominee under such circumstances, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that she would, quote, ‘close’ the bogus criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jay Powell while the Federal Reserve Inspector (General) takes up the inquiry. This was the trigger for getting to today’s markup,” Warren continued.

Warren told her colleagues that Trump has not abandoned his crusade to sack Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and has taken the fight “all the way to the United States Supreme Court —and the DOJ’s reported criminal probe against her is ongoing.

“These are uniquely dangerous circumstances to advance any Fed Chair nominee. But Mr. Warsh is a uniquely unfit candidate,” Warren said.

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