Sen. Thom Tillis ended his weeks-long hold on Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, removing the last major Republican obstacle to a confirmation vote that could come as early as Wednesday. The North Carolina Republican announced the move Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," saying he was satisfied the Justice Department had genuinely closed its criminal investigation into outgoing Chairman Jerome Powell.
The reversal matters because Tillis sits on the Senate Banking Committee, where Republicans hold a narrow 13-to-11 edge. His refusal to advance any Fed nominee while the DOJ probe lingered had effectively frozen the panel, and made confirmation before Powell's May 15 term expiration all but impossible.
Now, with the blockade lifted, the committee is expected to vote Wednesday to send Warsh's nomination to the full Senate floor. If confirmed, Warsh, a former Fed governor who served from 2006 to 2011, would take the helm of the central bank at a moment when interest-rate policy and institutional independence are front-page issues.
The impasse cracked Friday when Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced the Justice Department was dropping its investigation into Powell. The probe had centered on cost overruns tied to a renovation of the central bank's headquarters. Pirro reserved the right to reopen the matter and said it would be referred to the Fed's own inspector general, who has been reviewing the issue since July.
That was enough for Tillis. The Washington Examiner reported that the senator told "Meet the Press" he had received the assurances he needed:
"I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he's going to be a great Fed chair."
Tillis also addressed the broader concern driving his hold. He had insisted from the start that the DOJ should not use a criminal probe to pressure the Fed or undermine its independence, a principle that conservatives who prize institutional boundaries should welcome, even when the delay was inconvenient.
As Just The News noted, Tillis had previously vowed not to support Warsh or any other nominee while the investigation continued. The DOJ's decision to close the probe is what changed his calculus.
In a second key quote, Tillis told NBC he had received what he needed on the independence question:
"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."
He also dismissed suggestions that the administration might pursue other avenues to pressure Powell, and said Warsh would already be confirmed if not for the probe.
Even with Warsh on the verge of confirmation, questions linger about what happens to Jerome Powell. His term as chairman expires May 15, but his seat on the Fed's Board of Governors does not expire until 2028. Powell has said he would leave only once the investigation concluded "with finality and transparency." He has not said publicly whether he intends to stay on as a governor after stepping down as chair.
President Trump has previously threatened to fire Powell should he remain at the Fed in a lesser capacity. That tension has not been resolved. The administration last year attempted to remove sitting governor Lisa Cook, and that case is now before the Supreme Court, a legal fight that could set precedent for how far any president can go in reshaping the central bank's leadership.
Powell is likely to face questions about his plans at a press conference following this week's policy meeting. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady, but the real drama will be about personnel, not monetary policy.
The broader pattern in the Senate this year, from confirmation fights over the DHS secretary post to intra-party standoffs on spending, has made every nomination a test of Republican cohesion.
Senate Democrats have drawn sharp lines against Warsh, claiming, without evidence, as the reporting notes, that he would bow to President Trump's persistent demands for lower interest rates. It is a familiar playbook: oppose the nominee, question his independence, and hope the charge sticks regardless of the record.
The charge is hard to square with Warsh's actual biography. He served on the Fed's board for five years, spanning a financial crisis that tested every governor's willingness to act independently. His critics have not pointed to a single instance during that tenure when he subordinated his judgment to political pressure.
When President Trump first nominated Warsh, the choice signaled a preference for a chairman who had warned about inflation well before it became the dominant economic issue of the decade. That track record is precisely what Democrats prefer to ignore.
Meanwhile, the same Democrats who now fret about Fed independence had little to say when the Biden-era DOJ showed no urgency in investigating the headquarters renovation cost overruns. The concern about "weaponization" only seems to surface when a Republican president is making appointments.
The Wednesday committee vote is the next milestone. If Warsh clears the panel on party lines, which the 13-to-11 Republican advantage now makes likely, a full Senate floor vote would follow. The timeline is tight, with Powell's chairmanship expiring May 15, but the path is now open.
The referral of the Powell matter to the Fed's inspector general means the issue is not entirely closed. Pirro's reservation of the right to reopen the case leaves a thread dangling. But for confirmation purposes, the practical effect is clear: the blockade is over.
Recent intra-party friction among Senate Republicans on other legislative priorities has made smooth confirmations anything but guaranteed. Tillis's hold was a reminder that even within a unified majority, individual senators can bring the machinery to a halt when they believe a principle is at stake.
In this case, Tillis's principle, that the Justice Department should not hang a criminal probe over the Fed to gain leverage, was sound. And his willingness to move once the probe ended shows that the hold was about the issue, not about obstruction for its own sake. That is how Senate oversight is supposed to work, even when it tests the patience of allies.
The Fed needs steady, independent leadership, not a chairman who arrived under a cloud. Tillis made sure the cloud lifted first. Now it is time to confirm Kevin Warsh and let him do the job.
