Thom Tillis says he's 'prepared' to lift his block on Trump’s Fed pick Kevin Warsh: Full interview

[0:02] And joining me now is Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina. [0:07] Senator Tillis, welcome back to Meet the Press. [0:11] Good morning. Thanks for having me. [0:13] Good morning. Thank you so much for being here. We are grateful. I do want to start off by getting [0:18] your reaction to the events that unfolded here at the White House Correspondents Dinner [0:23] last night. What are the key questions that you have this morning, Senator? [0:31] Well, I think the first observation is what an extraordinary job the Secret Service, [0:35] local law enforcement and other agencies that were there to protect not only the president [0:40] and cabinet officials, but the people in attendance. I think it was a textbook execution. [0:47] We owe all of those people who stood in harm's way a debt of gratitude. And hopefully I can convince [0:52] some of my Democrat colleagues to get on my protect and serve bill, which would have increased the [0:57] penalties for the perpetrator in this particular event. Hope to get that done before I get out [1:02] of the Senate. But I think that, thank God, no one was hurt. Thank God the president is safe [1:08] and everybody else who was there, including you. Yeah. Thank goodness for that. And thank you for [1:12] that, Senator. I appreciate that very much. I do want to ask you big picture. I was just discussing [1:18] this with the acting attorney general about FBI Director Cash Patel. His agency obviously will play [1:23] a prominent role in this investigation. Again, the Atlantic reporting earlier this month that his [1:29] tenure has been marked by what it calls, quote, conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences. [1:37] Now, Mr. Patel denies those allegations. Do you have confidence in Cash Patel to lead the FBI in this [1:43] moment? As you know, I was one of the people that led his confirmation and judiciary committee. [1:51] This is one article. I work purely on facts and corroboration. When I see a corroboration that I'm [2:00] willing to have a discussion about these allegations. But at this point, look, I get hit with articles. [2:05] Everybody gets hit with articles in D.C. and in politics. They've got facts out there. They've [2:10] got witnesses. They want to lay them out. I'll take a look at it. But at this point, I'm not changing my [2:14] position on the FBI Director. I support them. Okay. I want to ask you about political violence broadly. [2:21] You are no stranger to it. Unfortunately, you've said you've been threatened so many times that it's like, [2:27] quote, going to 7-Eleven and getting a gallon of milk. You were, of course, there when violence broke out [2:34] on January 6, 2021, something that you have continued to speak out about. The president said last night that [2:41] political violence is the cost of doing business now. Do you agree with that sentiment? And what [2:48] can the country do about that, Senator? Well, sadly, I agree with the president. I think he's right. I [2:55] think the amplifier and the instigator of social media is able to really target vulnerable people. In many [3:03] cases, we're seeing people who are committing these horrible acts have behavioral health and other [3:08] challenges, stability issues in their lives. And now we have platforms that can focus on them, [3:14] state actors, terrorist organizations fomenting hate in this country. What the American people need [3:20] to do is take a breath, confirm their facts, talk to their elected officials, think a bit before they [3:28] judge people. They all have a role to play. And we, and elected officers do as well. Our words matter, [3:36] the weight of our words matter, and we need to be very measured in the way that we use them. [3:41] All right. I do want to turn to another big topic, a big headline this week, the Fed chair. Of course, [3:48] the Department of Justice on Friday announced it was going to close its investigation into Federal [3:53] Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. You had pledged to block the confirmation of Powell's successor, [3:59] Kevin Warsh, until the investigation was dropped. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro did not [4:05] close the announcement or added this caveat with her announcement saying, quote, [4:11] I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing [4:18] so. You just heard the acting attorney general effectively leave the door open [4:22] to the investigation potentially being reopened. So let me ask you, will you now vote yes to confirm [4:28] Kevin Warsh? Well, let me back up. And the, the announcement on Friday was well received by me. [4:38] I think it's the first time that, that the, the Department of Justice in D.C., or I should say [4:45] the D.C. prosecutors have acknowledged that they're not going to carry this case forward. The case is on [4:51] appeal. But after that statement, I've had a number of discussions with the Department of Justice. [4:56] They have made it very clear that the current investigation is completely and fully ended. [5:03] There may be some confusion because they're moving forward with the appeal, but I have been assured [5:08] by the Department of Justice that that appeal is simply to challenge the basis for judging on the [5:13] motion to quash the subpoenas. It would not in any way constitute a basis for reopening the investigation. [5:20] And we heard from acting attorney attorney general Blanche just a few minutes ago that the only thing [5:27] that would trigger an investigation is criminal potential criminal misconduct identified by the [5:33] inspector general Horowitz, who's one of the most respected inspector generals in, in Washington or in [5:39] the whole of government. I believe I have studied this and I believe that there will not be any [5:45] wrongdoing. Maybe we find a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project, [5:50] making a decision they shouldn't maybe, but it doesn't rise to a criminal prosecution. That was [5:55] my problem to begin with, because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going [6:00] to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early. But now with this, I am prepared. And with the assurances from [6:07] the Department of Justice, that the case is completely and fully settled, that the appeal would only be [6:15] used to potentially abrogate or change the ruling for administrative purposes, not as a basis for [6:22] reopening the investigation. And that the only way an investigation would be open would be a criminal [6:28] referral from one of the most respected inspector generals there. I am prepared to move on with the [6:34] confirmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he's going to be a great Fed chair. I just want to put a fine point [6:39] on it, because what you're saying is significant, Senator. You are now a yes to vote on the confirmation [6:46] of Kevin Warsh. That's right. We'll be putting out a statement. We worked a lot over the weekend to [6:55] make sure that we were very clear that we had the assurances from the DOJ that I needed to feel like [7:01] they were not using the DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. [7:08] Warsh to move on with his confirmation on time. And that's the absurdity of this whole thing. If this [7:13] investigation, which is now closed, had never occurred, we wouldn't be having this discussion. He would [7:18] have been confirmed on May the 15th. Fortunately, I think, by May 15th, I think we'll get there. [7:23] And then Mr. Powell will have to make his own decisions at some point in the future about when [7:29] when and if he leaves the board before the end of his 2028 term expiration. You know, [7:35] I suspect Mr. Powell wants to see what happens with the appeal and to make sure that it is fully [7:40] settled after the appeal. It could be a lengthy process, hopefully not. And then we can move on [7:45] and let the Fed be independent, because if we had allowed this to occur, I think it would have had [7:51] devastating consequences for our financial systems and the markets worldwide. Thank God we avoided that. [7:57] So, and just to be clear, are you confident that Kevin Warsh will act independently of the president [8:03] if he is in fact confirmed? Yeah. As a matter of fact, [8:08] I wouldn't be surprised if the president doesn't get annoyed with him once or twice. Look, the Fed [8:15] body that determines rate hikes, that works on their dual mandate for employment and for inflation, [8:24] it's a consensus building body. You have 12 voting members. No one person can actually control it. [8:31] You have to get a majority of it. And ideally you get a super majority. So Kevin's going to go in [8:36] there with a great reputation, with past experience, with relationships with, I think as many as five [8:43] prior Fed chair boards. He's going to understand he's got to work on gaining consensus. You know, [8:47] the president's right to just press and press and press. I don't begrudge him for demanding that [8:53] inflation goes down. We've got to deal with the affordability problem. And this president's trying [8:57] to do it better than Biden and Obama ever did. But you've got to do it by the rules and you've got [9:02] to do it within the bounds of the institution so that we maintain this precious exceptional gift [9:07] that we have as a nation and the gold standard for a financial system. Senator, let me turn now to [9:14] the war in Iran, which approaches its 60 day mark this week. As you know, by law, [9:20] the president needs congressional approval to continue the use of force beyond 60 days. [9:25] Senate leadership doesn't have plans right now to put a measure on the floor, [9:29] authorizing the use of military force in Iran. At the end of these 60 days, [9:34] do you think there needs to be a vote authorizing the use of military force in Iran, Senator? [9:42] Well, I think the only thing that's going to avoid pressure to do that is clarity from the White [9:47] House, from the Department of Defense on what the strategic objectives are. If you go back [9:52] to the War Powers Resolution, 60 days is roughly the amount of time we give the administration leeway [9:58] to take action. And this is clearly to get to a lasting peace and to achieve the objectives of [10:04] the president, which I support. It may take longer. So we need clarity on what that looks like. In fact, [10:10] I think that if it's going to be a longer term engagement, the authorization for the use of [10:14] military force could demonstrate to Iran, this isn't just about the president in Iran. This is [10:20] about the whole of the United States and the U.S. Congress supporting the president through an [10:25] authorization for the use of military force for the long term, for as long as it takes to get to a [10:30] lasting peace in a non-nuclear Iran. And so would you vote in favor of authorizing military force in [10:37] Iran if it were brought to the floor? We would have to work with the administration. Clearly, [10:44] this is that we're not going to play the game that the Democrats have tried over the past couple of [10:48] weeks doing these discharge resolutions on war powers. We want to be productive. We want to be [10:54] supportive of the president. And to do that, we just have to be briefed on what the objectives are [10:59] so that we can support that, either support a formal extension, which is allowed under the War Powers [11:05] resolution or build the support for the authorization, the use of military force, [11:10] Democrats should come on board. We are fixing a mess that started with President Obama and [11:15] continued with President Biden. They aided and abetted the ability of the mullahs in Iran to kill [11:21] their people and to build their nuclear capabilities. This president, and I've told him, is the first [11:26] president who had the guts to act with the kind of power that's necessary to bring these hateful, [11:32] deadly leaders of Iran to heal. And we've got to do everything we can to support them. But most [11:37] people know I'm a by-the-book kind of guy, and we need to do it by getting clarity from [11:42] the administration on what they need to do short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term, [11:47] and to what extent Congress can help and get Democrats on board fixing problems that their [11:51] predecessors created. All right. Well, we've covered a lot of ground today. Senator Tom Tillis, [11:56] thank you so very much for being here. Thank you. We thank you for watching. And remember, [12:02] stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel.