Tillis to oppose all Fed nominees over Powell investigation

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department's investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell could complicate the path to confirmation for President Donald Trump's future nominees for the Fed Board of Governors after a key GOP senator said Sunday he'd oppose any Trump picks to replace Powell or other board members.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is a swing vote on the Banking Committee, which oversees the Fed and approves central bank nominees. The panel is currently split 13-11 between the majority Republicans and minority Democrats, meaning a single GOP defection could result in a deadlocked vote.

"If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none," Tillis said in a statement. "I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed — including the upcoming Fed chair vacancy — until this legal matter is fully resolved."

Powell's term as Fed chair is up in May though he can stay on as a board member through early 2028. Trump has repeatedly bashed Powell for being too slow to lower interest rates and has made no secret of his plans to replace him as chair, openly discussing preferred candidates and tasking U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to vet them.

Tillis, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, could also decline to vote or could be recorded as "present." A query to his office seeking more specifics about his committee plans was not immediately returned.

The GOP senator's statement followed an unusual public statement from Powell, who was first nominated to be chair by Trump in his first term and who was reappointed by President Joe Biden.

Powell confirmed that the Federal Reserve has been served with grand jury subpoenas in connection with an investigation of his June 2025 testimony to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee about Federal Reserve building renovations. But Powell contended that none of that was really behind the federal Justice Department's interest.

"This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. ... Those are pretexts," Powell said in a video statement posted Sunday night on X. "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."

The Fed's benchmark short-term interest rate hit its highest mark in over two decades in 2023 amid rampant inflation. Central bankers began gradually lowering the target rate in late 2024, but with inflation stalling out above the Fed's preferred 2 percent target, traders are currently pricing in odds that the Fed won't cut rates again until perhaps June.

In a phone interview with NBC News late Sunday, Trump denied Powell's accusations.

"No. I wouldn't even think of doing it that way," Trump said. "What should pressure him is the fact that rates are far too high. That's the only pressure he's got."