Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., on Sunday said he’ll vote to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh.
The announcement comes after Tillis for weeks blocked Warsh’s nomination from moving forward as he protested a Justice Department investigation into the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
“We worked a lot over the weekend to make sure that we were very clear that we have assurances from the DOJ that I needed to feel like they were not using the DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Wash to move on with his confirmation on time,” Tillis told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
On Friday, the Justice Department announced it was dropping its investigation into Powell, a probe that had largely centered on a ongoing renovation project at the Federal Reserve’s headquarters.
Tillis, who had been highly critical of the investigation, said Sunday that he’s had “a number of discussions” with Justice Department officials who “have made it very clear that the current investigation is completely and fully ended.”
In an NBC News interview earlier this month, while Tillis was still blocking Warsh’s nomination, the North Carolina senator called him “a perfect candidate” and made clear that his blockade was not because he objected to Warsh’s nomination, but just in protest of the Powell investigation.
“Let’s get Warsh in there,” Tillis told reporters shortly after a Senate hearing on Warsh’s nomination. “Let’s get Chair Powell comfortable with actually exiting at some point, not to 2028, and do that by eliminating a bogus investigation that started this whole drama.”
In a statement Friday announcing that the Justice Department was dropping their investigation, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said that the department was clearing the way for Federal Reserve Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz to “scrutinize the building costs overruns.”
However, the Fed’s inspector general has been reviewing the costs, for a second time, after Powell himself requested the review last July. The inspector general’s first review in 2021 found no wrongdoing.
Powell’s request for a review came amid unrelenting attacks and personal insults from President Donald Trump and his top allies, asserting that a renovation project on the Fed’s Washington office campus illustrated mismanagement of the central bank.
Powell said the criminal investigation was “intimidation” and part of Trump’s pursuit of lower interest rates. In March, a federal judge blocked the subpoenas served by Pirro’s office, saying they were backed up by “essentially zero evidence.”
Earlier on “Meet the Press,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told moderator Kristen Welker that Justice Department officials would let Horowitz “do his job” while they stepped back from the investigation.
“He has a lot of tools. He can talk to people, he can look at records,” Blanche said, adding later, “We have a lot of faith in [him], we’re going to let that process play out.”
But Blanche did not rule out the possibility that the Justice Department would launch another investigation if Horowitz did uncover any wrongdoing.
“I’m not going to pre-judge what the investigation will find and say there’s absolutely going to be charges or absolutely not going to be charges,” the acting attorney general said. “That wouldn’t be fair to the process. We are, we are going to let the investigation unfold, let him do his work.”
Trump also sought to portray the investigation as ongoing in comments to reporters on Saturday. “You know, it’s not dropped,” Trump said.
Trump added that the project’s cost overruns are a “big thing.” The Fed has repeatedly said that increases to the cost of the project have been caused by unforeseen circumstances, such as a sinkhole, and the rising price of raw building materials.
“So we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Tillis’ announcement likely clears the way for a speedy confirmation of Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, to lead the central bank by the time Powell’s term ends on May 15.
Warsh has widespread Republican support.
However, Powell could remain at the central bank after his term as chair, as a lower-ranking governor on the Fed’s board. In recent history, Fed leaders typically step down as chair and governor at the same time. But with officials suggesting that the investigation could be reopened, Fed watchers believe Powell could decide to stay.
In legal filings, Powell’s lawyers indicated that they advised him to remain in place in order to protect the central bank’s independence.
“Chair Powell’s counsel made clear that, to defend the Federal Reserve’s independence, Chair Powell could not resign while the criminal investigation is pending,” a March 13 legal filing said.
The Senate Banking Committee is expected to advance Warsh’s nomination to a full Senate vote on Tuesday, the same day as Powell helms the Fed’s next two-day meeting on interest rates.
The Fed is not expected to change rates, as it reviews the impact to the economy from the ongoing war with Iran and resulting energy price spikes.
Asked Friday about the Justice Department dropping its probe, the Federal Reserve declined to comment.
