Tillis maintains he won’t confirm nominee unless Fed chair investigation is dropped

Sen. Thom Tillis doubled down in a committee hearing Tuesday morning that he will not confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve System unless an investigation into the current chairman is dropped.

Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, said during a Senate Committee on Banking hearing Tuesday morning that he believes Kevin Warsh is qualified for the job, but that an investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell needs to end.

Warsh, 56, testified before the committee Tuesday morning about his qualifications to take the reins of the country’s central bank, which Powell has led since 2018.

The Federal Reserve System began in 1913 and “provides the nation with a safe, flexible, and stable monetary and financial system,” as described on the system’s website. It is supposed to maintain independence from either political party.

Trump has been at odds with Powell since his first term, when the Fed under Powell’s leadership increased interest rates. At the start of Trump’s second term, he tried to oust Powell, but was told he didn’t have authority without cause.

And that’s when the Department of Justice launched an investigation into testimony Powell gave in June 2025 about the cost to renovate historic buildings used by the Federal Reserve System. The cost increased $700 million more than anticipated.

On Tuesday, Tillis said when Powell first testified, it wasn’t clear that the Eccles building was constructed over a landfill and had water-table issues.

“There were a variety of reasons why this building went over budget,” Tillis told the committee Tuesday morning. “And as a matter of fact, if we put everybody in prison in federal government that had had a budget go over, we’d have to reserve an area roughly the size of Texas for a penal colony, because of the way government projects work.”

When DOJ launched the investigation, Tillis posted on social media that the Trump administration was actively pushing to end the Federal Reserve’s independence, a query led to credibility questions.

Warsh’s credentials

Warsh didn’t help qualm concerns when he refused to answer Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s question about whether he believed Trump was elected president in 2020.

But Tillis made clear Tuesday he wasn’t questioning Warsh’s qualifications, and he told Warsh to take a break from “the beating” he believed Warsh would take from Democrats Tuesday, while he explained his posture.

”You have extraordinary credentials,” Tillis told Warsh. “They’re impeccable.”

Warsh holds a public policy degree from Stanford University and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School. He then joined Morgan Stanley.

Under President George W. Bush, Warsh served as special assistant on economic policy, was named executive assistant of the National Economic Council and served on the Federal Reserve Board of Directors.

But concerns have been raised about whether Warsh would remain an independent voice as chairman after Trump said he would be disappointed if Warsh didn’t immediately lower the interest rate.

“I’m committed to ensuring that the conduct of monetary policy remains strictly independent, equally committed to work with the administration and Congress on non-monetary matters that are part of the Fed’s remit, and I commit myself to accountability,” Warsh said.

Tillis told Warsh with 11 people serving on the board for the Federal Reserve, he has no choice but to remain independent.

There’s also been concerns about Warsh’s assets. He’s set to become the wealthiest chairman in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal reported, disclosing at least $131 million in assets. There have been questions about how transparent he’s been about his holdings and whether he plans to divest.

He vowed Tuesday to do so within 90 days of confirmation.

“Mr. Warsh, the only thing I’ve found the least bit odd about you is you’ve never watched an episode of ‘Seinfeld,’” Tillis said. “You’ve spent so much time at being a rock solid economist that you’re not even taking time away for a little laugh like that.”

Tillis digs in

Tillis told the committee that his refusal to confirm Warsh was strictly due to the investigation into Powell.

“The problem that I have here is that we had some U.S. attorney with a dream, or assistant U.S. attorney thinking it would be cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation just a few months before the position was going to be open,” Tillis said.

Powell’s term ends on May 15.

Tillis told Warsh had the investigation not been launched, “you’d be getting confirmed.”

“But instead,” Tillis said, “we have somebody who thinks a building project that went over by about $700 million, with a lot of what seemed to be justifications for it ... holding up this whole process.”

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