Republican leaders are escalating their demands on the Trump administration to conclude its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which has become a major obstacle to confirming Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair. The standoff, which has delayed the confirmation of the nominee for months, has now drawn broader support from GOP senators, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senator Mike Rounds, who are publicly calling for the administration to drop the probe. Thune, in a recent statement, acknowledged that the confirmation process is effectively stalled until the Justice Department resolves the case, while Rounds emphasized the urgent need for a new Fed chair to enable effective congressional oversight.
The dispute centers on whether Powell violated federal law by allegedly misrepresenting cost overruns at the Fed’s Washington headquarters during his 2023 congressional testimony. Outgoing Senator Thom Tillis, a key Senate Banking Committee vote, has previously blocked the confirmation of Warsh, a former federal reserve official, until the DOJ concludes the investigation. Now, a growing number of Republicans, including Tillis’s fellow committee members, are joining the call for the administration to end the probe. Some senators, like Rounds, argue that the Trump administration’s insistence on pursuing the case is hindering the nomination process, which is set to conclude in early May as Powell’s term ends. However, Tillis remains a wildcard, as he has not yet publicly endorsed Warsh’s nomination despite the mounting pressure from his colleagues.
The situation has also intensified the conflict between Trump and Powell. The president has publicly threatened to fire Powell if he remains in office after his term ends, a move that has raised concerns about the Fed’s independence. Meanwhile, Tillis, who is retiring from the Senate at the end of his term, has signaled he may leverage his remaining influence on the Senate Judiciary Committee to impose additional conditions on future appointments. He has already warned that he would block any attorney general nominee who has dismissed the January 6 Capitol attack, and he has not ruled out using the Fed probe as a litmus test for other nominations if the DOJ does not resolve the case.
While the Fed nomination battle dominates the headlines, other legislative developments are also unfolding. Speaker Mike Johnson is preparing to reintroduce a procedural vote to renew key government spy powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), despite recent GOP infighting. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to begin a series of congressional hearings to test his potential impact on the 2026 midterms. These developments highlight the broader political tensions shaping the current administration’s agenda.