Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has faced questions from the United States Senate about President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign to slash interest rates, despite concerns that such a move could turbo-charge inflation.Bessent appeared on Thursday before the Senate’s Financial Stability Oversight Council.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThere, he received a grilling from Democrats over rising consumer prices and concerns about Trump’s attempts to influence the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.One of his early clashes came with Senator Elizabeth Warren, who sought answers about a report in The Wall Street Journal that indicated Trump joked about suing his nominee for the Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, if he failed to comply with presidential demands.“Mr Secretary, can you commit right here and now that Trump’s Fed nominee Kevin Warsh will not be sued, will not be investigated by the Department of Justice, if he doesn’t cut interest rates exactly the way that Donald Trump wants?” Warren asked.Bessent evaded making such a commitment. “That is up to the president,” he replied. Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren speak during a hearing on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report to Congress [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]Pressure on Federal Reserve membersLast week, Trump announced Warsh would be his pick to replace the current Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who has faced bitter criticism over his decision to lower interest rates gradually.By contrast, Trump has repeatedly demanded that interest rates be chopped as low as possible, as soon as possible …
