Tillis Blocks Warsh Fed Chair Nomination Pending Powell DOJ Probe
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve chair, former governor Kevin Warsh, is meeting Tuesday with Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, the Republican senator whose procedural hold is preventing the Senate Banking Committee from advancing the nomination. Tillis told Fox News Digital he is a "real fan" of Warsh and has "no problems" with him personally but insists he will block all Fed nominees until the Justice Department’s criminal investigation involving current Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony on Fed building renovations is resolved. Because Tillis sits on the Banking Committee, his hold is especially powerful, and bypassing it would require a 60‑vote discharge motion on the Senate floor, something senators view as a long shot. The standoff comes as Powell publicly calls the DOJ probe "unprecedented" and part of Trump’s broader pressure on the central bank, while the Supreme Court weighs potential limits on Fed independence and inflation and cost‑of‑living concerns intensify. The clash underscores how a criminal investigation into a sitting Fed chair and partisan fights over central‑bank independence are now directly shaping who will lead the institution once Powell’s term ends in May.
📌 Key Facts
- President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair in January to succeed Jerome Powell when Powell’s term ends in May.
- Sen. Thom Tillis, R‑N.C., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, is holding up Warsh’s confirmation and has vowed to block all Fed nominees until the DOJ concludes its criminal probe involving Powell.
- Jerome Powell confirmed on Jan. 11 that the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into his congressional testimony on renovations to the Fed’s two historic main buildings on the National Mall.
- Overriding Tillis’s hold would require a 60‑vote discharge motion on the Senate floor, an extraordinary step that is considered unlikely.
- The dispute unfolds as the Supreme Court weighs the Fed’s independence and cost‑of‑living pressures test Trump’s economic agenda, raising the stakes over who will lead the central bank.
📊 Relevant Data
The Department of Justice's criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell focuses on his June 2025 congressional testimony regarding the renovation of the Federal Reserve's headquarters, where costs reportedly escalated beyond initial estimates, potentially involving misleading statements to Congress.
What to Know About the Criminal Investigation of the Fed Chair — The New York Times
The Supreme Court case Trump v. Cook addresses whether the president has the authority to remove Federal Reserve governors at will, challenging the statutory protections for the Fed's independence that require cause for removal.
Supreme Court Considers the Limits of Presidential Removal Power Over the Federal Reserve — Last Month at the Supreme Court
In 2024, 43.27% of Black adults and 46.30% of Hispanic adults reported difficulties paying their usual household expenses due to monthly changes in prices, compared to lower rates among White adults, amid ongoing inflation pressures; Black Americans make up about 13.6% of the U.S. population and Hispanics about 19.1%.
Financial disparities will deepen economic insecurity for Black and Hispanic households amid the 2025 slowdown — Economic Policy Institute
Black and Hispanic households have experienced higher inflation rates than other groups since the post-pandemic economic reopening, exacerbating existing wealth and income gaps; for example, the effective inflation rate for Black households was approximately 0.5-1 percentage points higher than for White households in 2025.
US Bifurcated – Economic backdrop deepens racial disparities — Oxford Economics
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