House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer is considering calling Bill Gates to testify in his ongoing Jeffrey Epstein investigation, saying in an interview Wednesday a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the panel are pressing for a chance to question the billionaire Microsoft founder.

“We’re certainly looking at that, so we’ll have more to come on that,” said the Kentucky Republican, adding that he’s been “approached by multiple Republicans and Democrats on the committee that would like to ask Bill Gates questions, so odds are.”

Comer said he also wants to review an interview from Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda Gates, which will air on NPR Thursday, to see if she divulges any more information about her former husband and the extent of his possible involvement with Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.

Bill Gates was depicted in the release of Epstein-related materials in December but has come under renewed security over his ties to the disgraced financier in the latest set of documents to be made public.

The newest tranche of files includes allegations that Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease from women in Epstein’s orbit. A spokesperson for Gates has called the allegations absurd.

Gates has said he had several dinners with Epstein based on an understanding that Epstein would use his wealthy connections to fundraise for global health causes. When that didn’t happen, Gates told PBS NewsHour in 2021, he cut off the dinners, calling the meetings “a mistake.”

Comer has already issued subpoenas for other individuals known to have had some ties to Epstein, or mentioned in the Epstein files, including Bill and Hillary Clinton. Negotiations with the former president and secretary of state over the terms of their testimonies dragged on for months, culminating in their final caving to the Oversight committee under threat of being held in contempt of Congress. They will now sit for closed-door depositions at the end of the month.

It’s not immediately clear if Gates would be willing to share information with the committee.

Democratic and Republican leaders showed no sign of narrowing their differences on Department of Homeland Security funding Wednesday as a Feb. 13 deadline draws nearer.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated demands for new restrictions on immigration enforcement agencies at a joint news conference. Flanked by other Democratic leaders, the leaders said they plan to submit draft legislation to Republicans by Thursday.

“We’re going to have tough, strong legislation,” Schumer said. “We want our Republican colleagues to finally get serious about this, because this is turning America inside out.”

Earlier Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune not only warned that a deal would be next to impossible to consummate before next week’s deadline but threatened a possible long-term stopgap that would effectively exclude changes to immigration enforcement.

Without quick progress in the talks, he said, “it may be the best way to deal with this particular appropriations bill is, do a year-long CR if that’s what it takes,” Thune said, referring to a continuing resolution that would continue existing DHS funding levels through Sept. 30.

While the two Democratic leaders reiterated in a news conference that they are “on the same page,” Jeffries and Schumer declined to draw the same red lines on a full-year DHS punt.

Jeffries said after the news conference he is “a hard no” on a full-year CR, while Schumer stopped short of a hard commitment.

“Republicans shouldn’t expect our votes if they’re not willing to enact strong, tough reform,” he said when asked if Senate Democrats would oppose another punt.

The list of demands Jeffries and Schumer laid out Wednesday largely tracks with an earlier list of DHS proposals Senate Democrats put forward after the Jan. 24 killing of a Minneapolis man by federal agents there. They include prohibiting masks for federal agents in most circumstances and requiring a judge to sign off on warrants for DHS immigration apprehensions — proposals that some top Republicans have already rejected.

In addition to the policy sparring Wednesday, there was some personal squabbling, too — including over who should be involved in notching any agreement.

Thune suggested any deal needed to be cut primarily between Democrats and the Trump administration. He also warned that he does not view Jeffries as a reliable negotiating partner.

“He’s just not, and I think he and, for that matter, Leader Schumer are afraid of their shadows and they are getting a lot of blowback and pressure from their left,” he said. “I don’t think he wants a deal at all. I think he wants the issue.”

Jeffries, in response to the comments, said it was Thune who is “afraid of his own shadow” in the form of President Donald Trump.

“We are negotiating in good faith because we want to try to achieve an outcome, but the changes that are enacted with respect to the way in which the Department of Homeland Security is conducting itself need to be bold, meaningful and transformative,” he told reporters.

Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott on Wednesday said he did not believe Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell committed a crime during his congressional testimony last year about the central bank’s headquarter renovations.

“I was the one asking the questions,” he said on Fox Business. “Jay Powell was responding to me. Obviously, he and I have very, very strong disagreements on many issues, everyone.”

He said it was time for a new head of the central bank and called Powell “inept” but added: “ineptness or being incompetent is not a criminal act.”

“I believe what he did was made a gross error in judgment,” Scott said. “He was not prepared for that hearing. I do not believe that he committed a crime during the hearing.”

The Justice Department issued subpoenas last month to the Fed, probing his statements to Congress, a fact revealed by Powell himself in an unprecedented video message where he accused the administration of using the investigation to pressure him to lower interest rates. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), saying he fears for the Fed’s independence, has said he will not vote to advance any Fed nominees until the administration has finished its probe.

Scott said the issue would be “resolved,” adding: “Thom Tillis will be voting for Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.”

Tillis has spoken positively of Warsh but said his stance regarding the DOJ investigation has not changed.

Scott’s comments mark the first time that the powerful banking head has substantively weighed in on the administration’s move.