WATCH: Bescent tells Senate committee it will be the president’s choice whether to sue the Fed chief over interest rates

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said it will be “up to the president” to decide whether or not to sue Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, if he fails to lower interest rates.

During his remarks at a private dinner at the elite Alfalfa Club on Saturday night, Trump said he might sue his newly chosen nominee to head the Federal Reserve if he doesn’t lower interest rates. When asked about it later that night by reporters, Trump said the remarks were made as a joke. “It’s grilled,” Trump said. “It was all comedy.”

He watches: Treasury Secretary Besent testifies about US financial stability at a House hearing

But Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, pressed Bescent on Trump’s comments during a committee hearing on Wednesday, which come after the unprecedented attacks and legal investigation his administration has targeted against the current Fed chairman, Jerome Powell.

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

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell since his return to the White House last year, and last month, Powell revealed that the Justice Department had subpoenaed the Fed as part of an investigation into Powell’s testimony in the Senate last 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 policy. 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 investigation into Powell is resolved. Without Tillis’ support, Warsh’s nomination would have stalled in committee.

Read more: What do economists think about Trump’s choice of Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve?

At the hearing, Warren asked Besant to commit not to prosecute Warsh or be investigated by the Justice Department if he did not lower interest rates.

“It’s up to the president,” Pisant responded. The two began arguing over each other, with Picent saying the president was joking.

“This was supposed to be softball!” Warren said in astonishment.

Later, when asked about Besant’s comments about Trump suing Warsh, Tillis said: “Even just stating that it could happen and that it’s not a bad idea bothers me.”

He watches: What does Trump’s nomination of inflation hawk Kevin Warsh mean for the Fed?

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

“I was actually a witness at the alleged crime scene, and we did not see a crime,” Tillis said during the hearing.

On Wednesday, Senator Tim Scott, who leads the Senate Banking Committee, defected from the Trump administration and told Fox Business: “Incompetence or incompetence is not a criminal act.”

This was the second day in a row of Besant’s hearings on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report.

Picente’s first hearing with the House Financial Services Committee turned insulting as Picente clashed with Democratic lawmakers over financial policy, the Trump family’s business dealings and other issues.

Associated Press reporter Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.