Bill Hagerty

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Fox & Friends on Fox News to Discuss Iran’s Economic Crisis, US-China Talks - Senator Bill Hagerty

Position: Senator Hagerty expresses support for maintaining military readiness against Iran, opposes allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and supports a strong negotiating position with China on trade and critical minerals.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is asking anyone whose home has been impacted by recent events to complete a new, easy-to-use survey to report any damages. Submitting the survey does not guarantee assistance, but it is a critical step in helping state and local officials assess impacts and identify potential needs across Tennessee. Complete the survey here. NEW YORK—On Friday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Fox & Friends on Fox News to discuss Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s clash with Senate Democrats, the latest on the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, and President Trump’s upcoming visit to China. *Click the photo above or here to watch* Partial Transcript Hagerty on Hegseth’s committee dispute with Senate Democrats: “It's as if you're listening to someone from the Ayatollah [Mojtaba Khamenei]’s own cabinet speak when you hear the Democrat side make these accusations. It's as if they're trying to talk the economy into the tank, and they're trying to talk the American public into thinking this is some sort of vast defeat when that is absolutely not the case.” Hagerty on further military intervention in Iran: “The options are considerable, and if you think about the authority that we have right now in the region—the carrier strike groups that are there—we are fully armed and ready to go. Time is on our side in this one. The Iranians had an opportunity with the ceasefire. They’ve been in complete catastrophe, evidently, from their political navigation. But we're ready to see this come to an end. President [Donald] Trump has been very clear: There will not be a nuclear weapon, and a nuclear-armed Iran. We're not going to allow them to continue this. And we're not going to allow them to continue to hold the entire world's economy hostage either.” Hagerty on Russian involvement in Iran and the war in Ukraine: “Any sort of assistance with targeting [U.S. military bases] is an action that should never be tolerated. I think [Trump] is telling [Russia] that Iran is going to be over soon, and Russia better get in line as well. It really is amazing to see the agility of the Ukrainian army and, frankly, the toughness of the Ukrainian army.” Hagerty on the president’s upcoming visit to China: “I think the tables have turned significantly in the president's favor. The Venezuelan oil that the Chinese were buying was deeply discounted on the market; it's under our control right now. I certainly think that the timeline is such that we could have the Iranian situation under control at that point, too. America will be speaking from a position of strength this time, very different from when President Trump had to go in the wake of the Biden failures and basically plead with the Chinese to ease off on the critical mineral sanctions and choke point.” Hagerty on China threatening Panamanian ships: “I think the Chinese are trying to reset the leverage as well. They also denied Meta a merger; they have blocked that because they don't want us to succeed in AI. This is a competition on global scale, and the Chinese are again trying to position [themselves] for this very meeting between [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] and President Trump. We’ll have a much better hand when we walk into that meeting this time. We need to stop every ship, and that's the goal. Ships are not moving out of the Strait of Hormuz with oil in them going to China.”

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Kudlow on Fox Business to Discuss Warsh Confirmation, Latest on Iran - Senator Bill Hagerty

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is asking anyone whose home has been impacted by recent events to complete a new, easy-to-use survey to report any damages. Submitting the survey does not guarantee assistance, but it is a critical step in helping state and local officials assess impacts and identify potential needs across Tennessee. Complete the survey here. WASHINGTON—On Friday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees joined Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss Kevin Warsh’s Confirmation Process to be Fed Chairman and the Trump administration’s talks with Iran. Hagerty on the probe into Fed Chairman Jay Powell being dropped: “I think this is great news today that US Attorney [Jeanine] Pirro has decided to drop the probe. Michael Horowitz, who's the Fed IG [Inspector General], has stepped up. Horowitz has a strong reputation. I think that's a very good sign. And I think that Senator [Thom] Tillis asked for this to be dropped. It has been dropped. I spoke with him, and I spoke with Senator [Tim] Scott about this. I'm optimistic that we're on the path now to schedule Kevin Warsh's confirmation vote and to get him out of the Senate Banking Committee and get him onto the floor where I fully expect him to be confirmed as the next Fed chairman.” Hagerty on Kevin Warsh’s confirmation timeline: “I'm not aware of other conditions. And as I said, I'm optimistic. I think we all want to see this move forward. We're getting very close to the point in time that current chair, Jay Powell, is going to finish the end of his term. We need to have Kevin Warsh in this position. Kevin is prepared and ready to go. He's absolutely the right man for the job right now, and I think we've got everything in place to move this forward. So hopefully this is the last step. The Horowitz investigation will be launched. That will happen within the Fed. That'll allow for accountability that I think everybody would like to see. At the same time, we'd also like to see this confirmation move forward. I expect that every Republican will support Kevin Warsh. I think there should be a large number of Democrats in the Senate Banking Committee that will support him. He did a textbook performance in his hearing. Kevin did an excellent job, and I think it'd be hard pressed to not find a number of Democrats that don't want to support him as well for this important position.” Hagerty on getting Kevin Warsh onto the Senate Floor: “The committee vote can be noticed in three days. So it could be noticed as [soon] as this coming Monday. And we could have the hearing [and] the vote on Friday in the committee before we leave and be ready to vote him back on the floor. There will be another 30-hour window once Senator Thune puts the nomination on the floor of the Senate to vote on it. That clock will start ticking. But I think we've got time right now to do it. So I hope we can move post-haste, get it scheduled, and get Kevin voted out of the banking committee and onto the floor of the Senate.” Hagerty on negotiations with Iran: “Their [Iran’s] oil storage capacity is coming to an end as that's exhausted. They moved out of a very old super tanker today. That shows that last ditch sign of desperation. They're trying to find someplace to store this oil. They've reached out. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are flying over to Pakistan now. They're great negotiators and very close to the president. I think it's very clear that they speak for the president. And I think the Iranians are figuring this out. They need to figure out an answer here. They need to take the off ramp. Because if they don't, they're going to drive straight off the cliff.” Hagerty on the Trump administration’s pressure on Iran: “In the previous Trump administration, maximum pressure was working. And I think it would've worked had John Kerry not pleaded with the Iranians to wait to see what would happen with the election. Now we're right back in the same boat because the Biden [administration] came in and immediately released sanctions enforcement, took the Houthis off the watch list. And what do you see? Terrorism emanating from the Middle East again and the Iranians marching toward a nuclear weapon. It took President Trump to step up and stop this and indeed he has and he will.”

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to Discuss Budget Reconciliation, Kevin Warsh, AI Competition with China - Senator Bill Hagerty

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is asking anyone whose home has been impacted by recent events to complete a new, easy-to-use survey to report any damages. Submitting the survey does not guarantee assistance, but it is a critical step in helping state and local officials assess impacts and identify potential needs across Tennessee. Complete the survey here. WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to discuss budget reconciliation, Kevin Warsh, AI competition with China. Hagerty on reconciliation and DHS funding: “The third reconciliation process that Speaker [Mike] Johnson talked about, we've also been discussing in the Senate as well. That is probably the most prime opportunity. And I think [Senator] Lindsey Graham, our budget chairman, is working at pace for that right now. We also have the National Defense Authorization bill coming up. Both of those will be opportunities to address this. We're going through this process right now to fund the Department of Homeland Security, that the Democrats have shut down now. They've shut down this department. The department charged with protecting us, the Counter-Terrorism department at a time when we are dealing with the world's largest state sponsor of terror. It's incredibly irresponsible that the Democrats have put us in this position. They basically are against law enforcement. Chuck Schumer says he doesn't respect them, I'm sure, but our law enforcement is absolutely critical at a time when the Biden administration encountered 1500 Iranians, that's the polite word. They use 1500 Iranians from 2021 to 2024; they released half of them into the country. We need to be very responsible at this point in time and the recklessness of the Democrats has brought us to this point. It's their shut down, their willingness to expose us to terrorism that is really hard to believe. We're going to address it very quickly.” Hagerty on President Trump’s leadership on Iran: “President Trump has done an outstanding job using executive orders to bring our country back to the most competitive place it possibly could be. The reconciliation package that we passed last year, the Working Families Tax Cut Act, some call it The Big Beautiful Bill, that put in place more incentives for capital investment than we have seen in our careers. So, we've got great economic momentum right now. President Trump is dealing with the world's largest sponsor of terror. I think that's going to happen post-haste. Time, as he said, is on our side here. The Iranians are running out of options immediately. They're running out of storage capacity for their oil. If they have to cap their wells, if they have to stop production it is going to create massive damage. Again, time is running out. They need to take the off ramp.” Hagerty on the 2026 midterms: “If we do wind up in a situation [losing the Republican congressional majority], and it's going to be close, and I think the races for the House and the Senate are going to be very intense. The Democrats have decided that resistance, that favoring crime over law enforcement seems to be their play. I don't think the American public are going to buy that. I think the economy is going to be moving in the right direction. I'm optimistic that we won't have a problem in the midterms but we're going to fight hard. The Democrats have indicated that they're going to resist at every turn. They're going to try to bring the government to a grinding halt. They've already demonstrated that with the shutdown last fall and with what they're doing with Homeland Security. I do not think we'll lose the Senate. We'll be able to maintain the fight, but they'll make it certainly a lot more difficult for the American public.” Hagerty on the Virginia redistricting amendment: “Democrats have demonstrated that they can't win the hearts and minds of the American public so instead they're going to try to change the rules. And this is exactly the playbook that they've deployed in the past. If you think about some of the states where Democrats can win, there's states where there's no voter ID where they've got very loose rules. That's what the Democrats seem to want everywhere. They're trying to change the rules now for the allocation of Congressional seats and districts. Every single Democrat voted to continue counting illegals in the process of allocating congressional districts and electoral votes. [Illegal Aliens] flooded the border, [Democrats] brought all these millions of illegals into the country. They go to these sanctuary cities, and now they want to count them. They've all voted to do just that, to count them in the allocation of seats and districts. The Democrat's playbook is, is to change the rules, to break the rules, to certainly go well against the intent of the founding fathers.” Hagerty on Kevin Warsh’s committee hearing: “I'd say Kevin Warsh delivered a textbook performance. He's absolutely the man for the job at this moment. I think everybody saw that in full display when he appeared before the banking committee. Every person sitting on that banking committee, whether they be Republican or Democrat, can vote to move Kevin Warsh forward. Every Democrat there, many of them already voted for Kevin Warsh when he was up for Fed Governor. They [Democrats] have the opportunity to support this. I've spoken with Senator Tillis, and I've spoken with Senator Scott just as recently as yesterday about moving this forward. I think there are a number of options to get this moving, but we need to see Kevin [as Fed Chair] by mid-May. I certainly hope that we'll be in that position very soon to put Kevin into that role. He'll do a great job, and we're ready for him.” Hagerty on Warsh’s confirmation process: “[Kevin Warsh’s Nomination to be Fed Chair] It could be imminent. Conversations are underway. I don't want to get ahead of those conversations because they're fragile, delicate. But again, on our side, I think every Republican realizes Kevin Warsh is the most competent person, a terrific candidate that President Trump has selected, and he's ready for the position and well prepared, ready to go at a time when we need the sort of certainty that he can help deliver to get the Fed back into its lane. So, there's no question about his competence, his qualifications, and I'm very optimistic that we're going to have a vote soon.” Hagerty on the CLAIRTY Act: “I feel like we're at the one-yard line on this one. It's up to Chairman Tim Scott to decide the timing of when we do the markup [to the CLARITY Act]. But I think we're very close to being ready to do that. In my view, it could happen in a matter of weeks. I've been optimistic that we were ready in the past and other things come up. For example, the situation in Iran, the Democrat's decision to shut down the government, to shut down Homeland Security. But we're moving at pace, and I think we're very close to being ready to move on the CLARITY Act.” Hagerty on The AI Race with China: “It is quite alarming [that China is attempting to steal innovation and intellectual property from the United States] but it's not surprising. Michael Kratsios [Science Advisor to the President of the United States] is extremely competent and a good friend and he is putting his finger on the button here. This is the most important, most incredible advancing technology that we’ve seen in decades. Right now, the Chinese, again, are trying to steal intellectual property, and this is a playbook they have been executing for decades. I've had my intellectual property stolen when I was in the private sector by the Chinese. So, this is something we've got to be on guard for. We have to be prepared for it. Most importantly, we must stay ahead of it, meaning the United States needs to continue to lead in AI. And I understand the concerns and I've watched very carefully what the Florida Attorney General is doing right now to deal with some of these concerns that are quite alarming. But at the same time, I think what we need are the appropriate guardrails to maintain American liberty but also maintain American dominance, the development of AI that happens right here in this country. We need to lead here.” Hagerty on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s leadership: “I applaud Secretary Bessent for bringing the banks together. These AI tools can be utilized to find any type of vulnerability. They can do it much more rapidly, much more effectively than humans can do it. And the fact that we're getting ahead of it, staying ahead of it, and acting on any of these vulnerabilities I think means the tools can be used for very productive and constructive means. Particularly, when we have adversaries like China that would try to exploit those vulnerabilities.”

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Squawk Box on CNBC to Discuss Kevin Warsh’s Nomination, Federal Reserve Leadership - Senator Bill Hagerty

Position: Senator Hagerty expresses support for Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, praising his confirmation hearing performance and calling him the right person to restore the Fed's focus and improve economic conditions. He suggests Jay Powell should consider departing.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is asking anyone whose home has been impacted by recent events to complete a new, easy-to-use survey to report any damages. Submitting the survey does not guarantee assistance, but it is a critical step in helping state and local officials assess impacts and identify potential needs across Tennessee. Complete the survey here. WASHINGTON— Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Squawk Box on CNBC to discuss Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, the confirmation process, and the need to restore focus at the Fed. Hagerty on Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearing: “I think Kevin Warsh did an outstanding job. It was a textbook performance. He answered everything. He had actually some very disrespectful questions from the ranking member. And he never let it get under his skin. Steady, disciplined, exactly what you want in a Fed chairman. I think he performed very well.” Hagerty on bipartisan support for Warsh: “There may be other off-ramps that are under discussion [to move out of committee], but one thing that's very obvious, Kevin Warsh has been confirmed in the past on a bipartisan basis. Members of this committee have voted for Kevin Warsh for the Fed Governor before this chairman position. I hope that they'll see the necessity of getting somebody as competent as Kevin into the position, and we can move forward with Democrat votes as well. That shouldn't be off the table, but given the partisan behavior of Chuck Schumer and the leadership, you think about shutting down the government in the fall for such an extended record-breaking period of time, what they've done to the Department of Homeland Security. I think it's a reasonable question whether he'll be seated, but I certainly hope that everybody will come to their senses and realize that Kevin is the man for the moment. He's the person to bring the Fed back into its lane and get our economy moving in the right direction.” Hagerty on bipartisan paths through committee: “Of course, it's possible. The ranking member doesn't indicate any, don't hold your breath. I wouldn't hold my breath. But it's certainly possible. I passed the GENIUS Act out of the same committee with completely bipartisan support. Senator [Elizabeth] Warren was against it, but she held five Democrats with her. Five Democrats came over and voted with me and all the Republicans to pass the stablecoin legislation, the GENIUS Act, just last year. It is certainly possible to get a bipartisan result here.” Hagerty on Jay Powell’s future at the Fed: “It's not typical. And if I were in Jay’s shoes, certainly I'm not, but if I were, it would be a good time to go ahead and depart. As was said earlier, it's probably not going to be a very pleasant environment to stick around again. I think we need to get a new chairman into position. Kevin is ready to do it. He's the man for the moment. As I said yesterday, my view is let's get it on. Let's move forward.” Hagerty on whether Powell could stay on the Board: “He should be allowed. I think it would be Jay Powell's choice to do that. Again, historically, that's not been the case. This is typical in most [of] corporate America, when a CEO and chair retires, they generally give the new person, the new leader, the runway to move forward. And I think that would be the appropriate thing to do. But again, it'll be up to Chairman Powell.”

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Balance of Power on Bloomberg to Discuss Iran Negotiations, Federal Reserve Leadership, Reconciliation - Senator Bill Hagerty

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is asking anyone whose home has been impacted by recent events to complete a new, easy-to-use survey to report any damages. Submitting the survey does not guarantee assistance, but it is a critical step in helping state and local officials assess impacts and identify potential needs across Tennessee. Complete the survey here. WASHINGTON—Yesterday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Banking Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, joined Balance of Power on Bloomberg to discuss Iran, energy markets, Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, and reconciliation. Hagerty on President Trump’s negotiating position with Iran: “He's got all the cards, and what he is doing is negotiating. I think that's what seems to shock people here in Washington sometimes, the fact that President Trump isn't telegraphing every move. I know that frustrates many, but at the same time, I think it puts them [the United States] in the best possible negotiating position.” Hagerty on Iran’s leadership: “I think the Iranian regime needs to figure this out. It reminds me of the old Thelma and Louise scene where they're heading off the cliff. That's the Iranian leadership, and you've got the moderate terrorist arguing with the super-aggressive terrorist over control of the wheel. Meanwhile, they're about to drive the thing over the cliff. They should take the off-ramp.” Hagerty on dealing with the Iranian regime: “I think anybody who shouts ‘Death to America’, ‘Death to Israel’ should be considered [a terrorist]. And as we know, Iran's been the largest state sponsor of terror in the world. Not the 90 million Iranians that we're talking about, I think they've been subject to this sort of leadership.” Hagerty on military options and the Strait of Hormuz: “I think that's going to be up to the president and to the generals on the ground, but no options are off the table. And as we see what's happening, and we've heard reports that they're putting mines back in the Strait of Hormuz, the president's not going to tolerate that. And I think that that message needs to be made loud and clear.” Hagerty on oil markets and pressure on Iran: “Oil still hasn't gotten where it was after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not that I'm hoping that it'll go higher, certainly not. But I think the markets are looking at this. There are a number of mitigating factors that are taking place. We're moving more [oil] certainly out of the United States of America right now. Pipelines are being opened. I think that it’s a different story today than it might've been even four years ago. The real key, though, is long-term, medium to long-term. We need to solve this problem. The Strait of Hormuz has been a sword over the entire world economy that the Iranians have held for years and years. I'm talking decades. This has always been a concern. This has always been the threat that they've had, and they're making every attempt they can to exercise it. But I'll make this point very clearly, their options there—meaning the Iranian regime's options—are becoming more limited every day.” Hagerty on Iran’s weakening position: “Their munitions have been largely destroyed. Their [naval] capabilities are basically at the bottom of the sea. And if you talk about timing, their capacity to store oil is being consumed right now. Once that capacity is full, because they can't sell this oil, they can't move it out because of the blockade. Once that is full, and we're talking a matter of days, that's going to be a huge problem on the Iranian economy because they're going to have to start shutting down the production facilities then. That's, I think, the breaking point. And the cards are much more on President Trump's side of the table right now than they're on the Iranian regime.” Hagerty on Iran’s past attacks and Prime Minister Abe: “They do have the capacity to [terrorize]. That's what they've been in business doing. When I was U.S. Ambassador to Japan, one of my jobs was to ask the Japanese to stop buying Iranian crude oil. That was part of the maximum pressure campaign. It was not an easy set of conversations, but Prime Minister Abe ultimately agreed to do that. He went to Iran to deliver that message and tell Iran personally. The disrespect shown to the Japanese by the Iranian regime was unbelievable. They sent two of these speedboats that we're talking about to go out and attach limpet mines—they're magnetic mines—on the sides of the cargo ships, and they blew them up. That's who we're dealing with. So, very difficult to deal with these people.” Hagerty on why action was needed now: “President Trump has stepped up, and he said he's going to deal with it. I think most everybody knows this, but there is a math problem here that we're trying to solve. And that math problem is quite simple. The pace at which the Iranian regime was building ballistic missiles was ramping up dramatically. And we have an exquisite set of capabilities to take those out. You've seen Patriot missiles go and take them out. But they can make ballistic missiles more rapidly than we can make Patriot missiles. And at some point, they might have overwhelmed our capacity to take them out. They were at 2,500 ballistic missiles. You start working that math, you can see why President Trump moved our military capabilities into the region while he tried diplomatic efforts. I think Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner did an amazing job, but they also read the room. The Iranians weren't serious about a diplomatic solution at that point in time. But the timing is relevant to the capacity of our military to be able to address Iran. And we were reaching that capacity now. The 2,500 [missiles in Iran’s arsenal are] down to a fraction of what it was. And we're in a much better position to deal with the threat. And, I think the world has seen what the Iranians would do if they were able to obtain nuclear capabilities, if they could have gotten a ballistic missile set beyond our ability to deal with it. They'd have had all the time they wanted to develop their nuclear capabilities. President Trump clearly understood that. Our military understands that. That's why it had to be dealt with. Now.” Hagerty on Kevin Warsh and the Federal Reserve: “There are a number of discussions going on right now, and I'm not going to get ahead of those discussions, but I spoke with both Senator Tillis and Senator Scott last night. Senator Scott is the chair of the [Banking] Committee. And I've certainly had a number of conversations with Kevin Warsh. I think he's absolutely the right person for the job to lead the Fed, and he should be ready to go. I think he is ready to go. We've had the hearing. Everybody's heard the statements that Senator Tillis has made, but we've got a lot of Democrats on the Banking Committee as well. They could move to get him out of committee just as easily. And most of these Democrats have already supported Kevin when he was up for Fed Governor before. I don't think it's just Thom Tillis and his issue, but we've got all of the Democrats in the Senate Banking Committee that have the opportunity to step up and help us move a Fed chair into place. If they're not going to do that, then we're back to the same place we are with the shutdown of the government back last fall. What we're having to deal with right now is Homeland Security. I hate to think that they're going to shut down or block the next Fed Chairman, who is as eminently qualified as Kevin.” Hagerty on reconciliation and Homeland Security: “Senator Thune is a straight shooter. I think that he's certainly going to tell you the way it is, but there's going to be a lot of momentum here. There's a great desire by the White House, certainly on the Senate side, and I think our friends in the House realize that sometimes the Senate has a different set of rules. It's not as easy for us to pass [legislation] as it may be in the House. So there'll be continued negotiations going on, but I'm optimistic we'll get the right answer here. We need the Department of Homeland Security open.” Hagerty on security risks and the border: “We were just talking about the situation in Iran. The notion that there could be sleeper cells here is very real. If you think about it, in the last administration between 2021 and 2024, there were 1500 Iranians who were encountered at our southern border. Half of those were released into the United States. So, the odds of there being some type of sleeper mechanism here is greater than zero. We need Homeland Security back open to deal with this. This is the worst possible time to be shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. And I think our colleagues in the House recognize that too.” Hagerty on FISA: “There are going to be more discussions next week. Again, I don't want to get ahead of those discussions because they're delicate. It's important that we get it right, but I'm optimistic that we get to a resolution here soon.”