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.”

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 Jay about his testimony,” Scott said. “I recommended that he come before the committee.”

“At this point he is more concerned about the criminal proceeding ,” he said. “And I get that.”

The Fed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tillis is otherwise supportive of Warsh, who Trump nominated for the role in January, but doubled down on his blockade after meeting with the Fed nominee on Tuesday.

“This is not about people, it’s about process,” Tillis said. “I think this is a foul.”

“This is about this is bedrock principle of Fed independence,” Tillis told reporters Tuesday. “I have no earthly idea what the market reaction would have been if suddenly the perception is that the Fed chair serves at the pleasure of the president.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., another Banking committee member, told CNBC earlier Wednesday he sees no reason why some Democrats won’t support Warsh’s nomination.

“There’s really no reason by anything from he’s ever said or that he’s done that, that Democrats shouldn’t support his nomination,” Cramer, who was scheduled to meet with Warsh on Wednesday, said. “They’re going to be rigorous, of course, in their interviewing of him and and the cross examination … when his hearing takes place. But I think we should be on track to get him across the finish line so that there’s no gap between … the end of Jay Powell’s term and the beginning of the new term.”

The investigation into Powell is in part based on testimony Powell gave to the Senate Banking committee last year. Scott has said in the past that he did not believe Powell committed a crime in his testimony, sentiment he repeated Wednesday. He said the Senate would begin confirmation hearings for Warsh “as soon as possible.”

“At the end of the day … when he was before the committee he definitely was unprepared,” Scott said of Powell. “I think he was woefully unprepared. But he did not commit a criminal act when he was before the committee.”

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 into cross talk.

U.S. presidents typically leave interest rate decisions up to the Fed, with a metaphorical firewall between the independent board and the White House.

Bessent’s testimony before the Senate committee was his second appearance on Capitol Hill in as many days. On Wednesday, he was grilled by Democrats during a contentious hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Democrats there pressed Bessent on tariffs and inflation, regulation of cryptocurrencies, and the independence of the Federal Reserve, a hot-button issue.

Trump in recent months has targeted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his refusal to lower interest rates to the president’s liking. Powell on Jan. 11 revealed he was the subject of an unprecedented investigation by the Department of Justice relating to cost overruns on the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters.

Trump critics have characterized the investigation, which is based in part on testimony Powell gave to the Senate banking committee last year, as a thinly veiled attempt to strong arm the independent central bank.

Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said this week he does not believe Powell committed a crime in his testimony. And Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the committee, has vowed to block the nomination of Warsh, unless the probe into Powell is dropped. Powell’s term as chairman ends in May. Trump, meanwhile, doubled down on the investigation earlier this week.

Warren and her Democratic colleagues on the committee have also called on Scott to hold up Warsh’s nomination until the probes into Powell and Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook — who is being investigated for alleged mortgage fraud — are ended.

“Donald Trump has been trying to take over the Fed for months and months now,” Warren said before Thursday’s hearing. “He’s threatened to fire Jerome Powell. He started a bogus criminal investigation against him. He started a bogus investigation trying to fire Lisa Cook, and now he wants to appoint his man who’s going to do exactly what he says at the Fed.”

“That’s a takeover,” Warren continued.