During remarks at a private black-tie dinner at the elite Alfalfa Club on Saturday night, Trump said he might sue his new nominee. Nominated for the Fed chair if he does not lower the interest. Asked about it later that night by reporters, Trump said the comments were made in jest. “It’s a roast,” Trump said. “It was just a joke.”

But Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, pressed Bessent on Trump’s comments at a committee hearing on Wednesday, which come after unprecedented attacks and legal investigations have targeted her administration’s current Fed chair, Jerome Powell.

Trump nominated Powell in 2017, but turned him down when he raised interest the following year.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell since returning to the White House last year and last month, Powell revealed that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed the Fed as part of an investigation into Powell’s Senate testimony in June about the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed building.

The investigation has raised concerns among some Senate Republicans about the Trump administration’s willingness to threaten the Fed’s longstanding independence from day-to-day politics. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who will retire at the end of this year, said he would not vote to approve Warsh until the Powell investigation is resolved. Without Tillis’ support, Warsh’s nomination could move forward with the committee.

At the hearing, Warren asked Bessent to guarantee that Warsh would not be prosecuted or investigated by the Justice Department if he did not cut interest rates.

“That’s up to the president,” Bessent replied. The two began arguing with each other, Bessent said the president was joking.

“That was supposed to be softball!” Warren said in surprise.

Later, when asked about Bessent’s remarks on Trump being sued by Warsh, Tillis said: “even the stipulation that that was going to happen and that it wasn’t a bad idea bothered me.”

During the hearing, Tillis submitted a list of committee members who indicated they saw no criminal intent on Powell’s part.

“I was actually a witness to the alleged crime scene,” Tillis said during the hearing, and “we didn’t see a crime.”

Last Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott, RS.C., who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, also broke ranks with the Trump administration and told Fox Business, “Impropriety or incompetence is not a criminal act.”

This is the second consecutive day of hearings for Bessent regarding the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Bessent’s first hearing before the House Financial Services Committee given over to insults as Bessent clashed with Democratic lawmakers over fiscal policy, the Trump family’s business dealings and other issues.

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Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.