Treasury Dept.'s renderings of $1 Trump coin draws criticism from lawmakers over ties to TRUMP memecoin

News that the U.S. Treasury Department is working on $1 coin featuring President Donald Trump drew ire from lawmakers who say it's appalling that renderings on the back of the coin draw ties to the TRUMP memecoin.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen asked the nominee for the next Mint Director at Treasury, Paul Hollis, about the rendering during a Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing on Thursday.

Earlier this month, U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach confirmed that Treasury is working on the coin to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country's independence next year. The heads side of the coin has Trump's face on it. The flip side has him standing in front of an American flag with his fist in the air and "Fight, Fight, Fight" along the sides.

That slogan is also the name of the company behind the TRUMP memecoin. Trump launched the memecoin days ahead of his second inauguration earlier this year. The phrase is also associated with Trump's political slogan and is tied to an attempted assassination last year.

"It's illegal to put the President's likeness on an official coin," Sen. Van Hollen said on Thursday. "And it's even more outrageous that it corresponds to the coin, the memecoin that the President is profiting off of. That seems to me to be clear on its face."

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto also raised concerns.

Hollis said he was "100% committed to always following the law" when asked about the coin.

Trump's FDIC pick takes the stand

Hollis was also alongside Trump's pick to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Travis Hill, during Thursday's nomination hearing.

Hill is currently acting chair of the FDIC, which is tasked with insuring bank deposits. Over the past year, Hill has said the agency is "actively working on a new direction on digital assets policy." Specifically, Hill has honed in on reputational risk and has said that banking regulators should not use reputational risks as a way for "supervisory criticisms." In March, the FDIC moved to put an end to "reputational risk" following criticism from some in the crypto industry who say they have been blocked from key financial services.

Hill got some heat from Republican Sen. John Kennedy when he asked about former FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg. Gruenberg announced plans to step down last year following the release of an independent investigation that found continued discrimination, bullying, and sexual harassment at the agency.

Kennedy said he had not heard from Hill about next steps and asked Hill to send a report about what's been done at the FDIC since. Hill said he would.

"You better, because I'm going to tell you, I'm not sure I'm going to vote for you," Kennedy said.