Senate

‘Is that real?:’ Warren, CNBC anchor spar over Trump Fed pressure

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by Max Rego - 04/22/26 3:08 PM ET

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by Max Rego - 04/22/26 3:08 PM ET

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday became incredulous when CNBC anchor Sara Eisen compared her prior outspokenness on the Federal Reserve to that of President Trump.

During an interview on “Squawk on the Street,” Eisen noted that the Massachusetts Democrat has been “very outspoken” on “what the Fed should be doing.” Warren, like Trump, has called on the central bank and its chair, Jerome Powell, to slash interest rates in recent years.

Eisen also referenced Warren backing the appointments of former Fed Chair Janet Yellen and former Vice Chair Lael Brainard, whom she was “aligned with” on policy.

“This isn’t that different, with the president expressing what he wants in terms of policy and who he wants [to lead the Fed],” the anchor remarked.

Warren scoffed and said, “I’m sorry, is that real? It is not different to just say, ‘Here’s my opinion and here’s how I read the numbers and here’s who I think has a good track record?’”

The progressive lawmaker added, “You think that’s the same as being the president of the United States and employing the Department of Justice to bring criminal against someone, of sending a notice that they have been fired?” referring to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s probe into Powell and Trump’s attempt to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed’s board of governors over allegations of mortgage fraud.

The investigation into Powell is officially about cost overruns of the renovations of two historic Fed buildings, according to Pirro’s office. But the central bank chair said in January that the probe was in reality a show of force by the president to compel Powell and the Fed to cut interest rates.

Warren agreed with Powell’s assertion and said Wednesday that Trump is “trying to control” the Fed.

“What he’s also trying to do is to control the Fed by terrifying all of them,” she said.

Eisen then asked why Warren did not ask Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to succeed Powell, about the probe during his nomination hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

During that hearing, Warren got into a heated discussion with Warsh about his financial disclosures and his independence from Trump, while Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) asked about the probe into Powell and the president’s attempt to fire Cook — the latter of which is the subject of an undecided Supreme Court case.

On both, Warsh said he would not comment on pending matters and vowed to abide by the courts. Warren said Wednesday that she asked the nominee about the investigation into Powell during a meeting in her office before the hearing, and he gave the same response.

“I could’ve spent 45 seconds having him say the same thing again, but he told every one of us the same thing: ‘You’ll get no comment from me on that.’ Because that’s what Kevin Warsh is doing, exactly what you’d expect a sock puppet to do.

“Uncomfortable questions, he just says, ‘I’m not going to answer them, I will not answer them and I have nothing, nothing that I can disagree, not a single fact that I can disagree with Donald Trump on. I gotta tell ‘ya, if the sock fits, and it sure does for him.”

Eisen then noted that Warsh said he disagreed with the president claiming he was out of “central casting.”

To that, the Massachusetts Democrat rolled her eyes and replied, “Yeah, that was really adorable.”

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