All posts tagged: Tim Scott

Crypto industry scores win as Clarity Act bill clears Senate hurdle

Crypto industry scores win as Clarity Act bill clears Senate hurdle

Published by Sam Flores

Gopixa | Istock Editorial | Getty Images The cryptocurrency industry notched a key win after a Senate panel on Thursday approved the Clarity Act, the first wide-ranging piece of legislation pertaining to the new industry. The Senate banking committee largely voted along party lines, 15-9, with Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego, of Arizona, and Angela Alsobrooks, of Maryland, joining all Republicans on the panel to vote for the bill. The measure has a long way to go before becoming law, given both powerful opposition and the fact that it would need to clear the full Senate as well as the House before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk. During the hearing, both Republicans and Democrats committed to continue working through areas of disagreement, including how best to ensure bad actors using digital assets can be caught and ethics language to address the issue of elected officials, such as Trump, profiting from crypto. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of several Democrats who has worked with Republicans on the bill, said while he was in “crypto hell the …

Powell making ‘significant mistake’ staying on at the Fed

Powell making ‘significant mistake’ staying on at the Fed

Published by Sam Flores

Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) delivers an opening statement during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chair of the Federal Reserve, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is making a “significant mistake” by staying on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after his term atop the central bank ends. “He’s breaking 75 years of precedent. Every time you get a new chairman, the former chairman leaves. That’s good news because what you don’t want are these philosophies in conflict,” Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference.  “I think for the country and for the Fed, it would be best if he left,” Scott said. Read more CNBC politics coverage Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15. By staying on, he is denying President Donald Trump a majority on the board, on which …

Crypto industry calls for lawmakers to act after breakthrough agreement

Crypto industry calls for lawmakers to act after breakthrough agreement

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks to a reporter as he arrives for the Senate Republicans’ lunch meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Crypto companies such as Coinbase are calling for Congress to advance a major market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act as soon as next week after senators released compromise language meant to end a battle between banks and crypto over when rewards can be offered on stablecoins. The proposal — from Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C, and Angela Alsobooks, D-Md. — would ban crypto companies from giving yield-like rewards for holding stablecoins, which banks warn would lead to fewer deposits and less capital for them to loan. However, it would allow rewards if users spend or use stablecoins. The rules-of-the-road crypto bill is the top priority for the crypto industry, and the Trump White House is actively pushing for it. The fierce debate over stablecoins was seen as the main hurdle to get the bill through the Senate Banking Committee, …

DOJ ends Powell probe, boost for Trump’s Fed pick Warsh

DOJ ends Powell probe, boost for Trump’s Fed pick Warsh

Published by Sam Flores

The Department of Justice on Friday dropped its criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, removing a major hurdle to the Senate confirming President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to replace him. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, said in a post on X that she is abandoning the probe. Her announcement came three days after Warsh testified before the Senate Banking Committee on his nomination. Pirro had said just Wednesday that she was committed to continuing the criminal probe, which had been crippled by a federal judge’s ruling quashing subpoenas her office issued to the Fed. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and Banking Committee member, had an effective hold on the full Senate from voting to confirm Warsh as Fed chair unless the criminal investigation ended. Pirro, in her announcement that she is dropping the investigation, said that instead of her office continuing the probe, the Federal Reserve’s inspector general “has been asked this morning” to investigate cost overruns in the multibillion-dollar renovation …

Fed nominee Warsh filings detail vast wealth

Fed nominee Warsh filings detail vast wealth

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh’s wealth eclipses that of all recent Federal Reserve chairs, newly released financial disclosure forms show. Warsh is President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. His financial filings show that Warsh and his wife Jane Lauder have holdings of approximately $192 million, and potentially far more. Holdings in Warsh’s name, separate from his spouse, total approximately $135 million to $226 million. Nominees disclose their holdings to the Senate in broad ranges. Warsh’s filings list holdings in two funds that are valued at over $50 million, without specifying an upper limit. Lauder holds several funds listed at over $1 million, with no upper limit. Warsh married Lauder in 2002. She sits on the board of Estee Lauder, the cosmetics firm founded by her grandmother. Forbes estimates her wealth at $1.9 billion. Read more CNBC politics coverage The filings show Warsh is significantly richer than Powell, who, at the time of his 2018 confirmation, was thought to be the wealthiest Fed chair in history. Powell’s most recent filing, for 2025, shows wealth …

Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh meets with more senators

Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh meets with more senators

Published by Sam Flores

Federal Reserve chairman nominee Kevin Warsh’s chances of getting quickly confirmed by the Senate looked as gloomy as the weather in Washington on Thursday as he met with more senators in a bid to bolster his chances. “It doesn’t look like such a nice day today,” Warsh quipped to a CNBC reporter in the Hart Senate Office Building, as heavy rain poured outside, on his way to a chat with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. “Things are progressing well, good to see you,” Warsh said when asked how the meetings were going. Rounds, after the meeting, posted on X that Warsh “will help keep the central bank accountable and focused on its statutory mission.” Warsh’s nomination by President Donald Trump is bogged down because of an effective blockade imposed by Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Banking Committee. That panel is the first hurdle for would-be Fed board members such as Warsh. Read more CNBC politics coverage Tillis has vowed to vote against passing along Warsh’s nomination or any other Fed …

Tim Scott hopes Fed Chair Powell investigation ‘goes away’ for Warsh

Tim Scott hopes Fed Chair Powell investigation ‘goes away’ for Warsh

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Tim Scott on Wednesday said he hopes the federal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell “goes away” so the Senate can take up the nomination of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the head of the U.S. central bank. “That proceeding going away allows for us to get the Fed fully functioning, back on target,” Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Read more CNBC politics coverage Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to hold up any Fed nominees until a federal criminal investigation into Powell is resolved. Trump floated the idea of firing Powell last year and lashed out at the Fed chair for refusing to cut interest rates to the extent he desired. Powell has denied any wrongdoing and has said he is being targeted for refusing to accede to Trump’s demands. Powell was expected to testify before Congress on Feb. 11, but missed that date because of the federal probe, Scott said. “I had a conversation with …

Trump takes a beating from GOP amid Epstein files and tariffs rebuke

Trump takes a beating from GOP amid Epstein files and tariffs rebuke

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he walks to board Marine One prior to departure from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 13, 2026. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images President Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party might be starting to loosen, just a bit. The few elected Republicans who regularly cross him — including Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina — are more vocal than ever. And in recent days, daylight has emerged between the president and a handful of his top supporters in Congress. The apparent shift is underway as Trump, the Republican Party’s undisputed leader, grapples with stubbornly low approval ratings — especially on the economy, a perennial issue on which he was elected that has only grown more important to Americans chafing under high prices. Six U.S. House Republicans voted this week to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Tillis remained resolute in holding up the president’s Fed chair nomination in protest over a Justice …

Housing affordability package advances in Congress

Housing affordability package advances in Congress

Published by Sam Flores

In an aerial view, two-story single family homes line the streets on Jan. 14, 2026 in Thousand Oaks, California. Kevin Carter | Getty Images House lawmakers on Monday approved a package of bills aimed at increasing housing affordability by giving builders and local governments incentives to boost construction by reducing regulations around home construction. The legislation gained strong bipartisan support, with the House voting 390-9 in favor. A similar Senate counterpart passed last year, also with bipartisan votes. That, as well as President Donald Trump’s focus on housing affordability, means the measure has momentum to become law before the end of the year. “Nothing’s more personal to Americans than their opportunity to have a home,” Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., told reporters on Monday. “When you ask people what is central to their goals in life, mom and dad are working 55 hours a week and overtime and all these other things … the idea is, how do we get into a house?” The bill includes numerous provisions, including cutting housing and environmental regulations around constructing …

Trump would decide whether to investigate Fed pick Warsh over refusal to cut rates: Bessent

Trump would decide whether to investigate Fed pick Warsh over refusal to cut rates: Bessent

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (L), and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Feb. 5th, 2026. Getty Images | Reuters Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday refused to rule out the possibility of a criminal investigation of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair, if Warsh ends up refusing to cut interest rates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, questioned Bessent about a joke Trump made over the weekend about suing Warsh if he does not reduce rates to the president’s liking, according to The Wall Street Journal. “I think it was a joke, but just in case, this should be an easy one, 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.  “That is up to the president,” Bessent said, as the questioning devolved …