Sen. Tillis Backs Fed Chair Nominee Kevin Warsh

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said on April 26 that he is ready to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, saying he will no longer stall the proceedings.

“I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh,” Tillis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair.”

Tillis’s comments were made as lawmakers weigh the nomination of Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve official, against the backdrop of questions surrounding Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

With Tillis’s support, Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee appear to have a narrow 13–11 majority to advance Warsh’s nomination to the full Senate, where he is expected to be confirmed if party unity holds.

Tillis said in January that he “will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee” as long as the Department of Justice’s investigation into Powell was unresolved.

“Kevin Warsh is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy,” Tillis had posted on Jan. 30 on X. “However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent.”

Tillis said protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation was “non-negotiable.”

Powell said he was threatened with a criminal indictment for testimony that he gave before the Senate Banking Committee regarding cost overruns on Federal Reserve building projects totaling billions of dollars.

Powell said the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas connected with that testimony, which could turn into a potential criminal investigation into whether his statements to Congress were true.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” Powell wrote Jan. 11. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on April 24 that her office has since closed its investigation into the cost overruns and referred the matter to the Federal Reserve’s inspector general. Pirro noted that the Justice Department could reopen a criminal case if warranted by the findings.

Pirro said in a Jan. 12 post on X that the Federal Reserve ignored her office’s outreach.

“The United States Attorney’s Office contacted the Federal Reserve on multiple occasions to discuss cost overruns and the chairman’s congressional testimony, but were ignored, necessitating the use of legal process—which is not a threat,” Pirro said.

“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s. None of this would have happened if they had just responded to our outreach.

“This office makes decisions based on the merits, nothing more and nothing less. We agree with the chairman of the Federal Reserve that no one is above the law, and that is why we expect his full cooperation.”

Later, Pirro spoke to the enormity of the cost overrun.

“Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80 [percent] over the original construction budget deserves some serious review,” Pirro posted on X on April 14. “And these people are in charge of monetary policy in the United States?”

Pirro said the inspector general has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable.

“I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas,” she said on X.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) supported Warsh as Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve.

Scott said on April 21 that Fed policy directly affects household costs, wages, and economic confidence, stressing the need for an independent central bank focused on stable prices and employment. He criticized recent Fed actions as politically influenced and tied current inflation to prior policies. Scott said Warsh would restore Americans’ confidence in the economy.

Warsh served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.

Warsh currently serves as the Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and as a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Before joining the Fed, Warsh was a White House economic policy adviser and executive secretary of the National Economic Council. After leaving government, he became a fellow at Stanford University.

“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump said on Jan. 30.