North Carolina – North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has emerged as a significant obstacle to President Trump’s agenda in the Senate’s final stretch before his retirement.
Once a Republican ally, Tillis is now publicly challenging the administration, most notably by refusing to support Trump’s nominee Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair.
He insisted the nomination will not move forward until the federal criminal investigation into Powell is dropped, describing it as an effort not to “reward bad behavior.”
With Democrats expected to oppose Warsh, Tillis’s stance could derail or significantly delay the confirmation.
It now seems that Tillis’s efforts and push have paid off.
According to CBS NEWS, the Justice Department is stepping away from its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, closing a politically charged case that had placed new strain on the central bank and threatened to slow the confirmation of the man chosen to replace him.
District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday that her office would close the probe while the Federal Reserve’s internal watchdog reviews questions surrounding cost overruns tied to the central bank’s Washington headquarters renovation.
The project, valued at about $2.5 billion, had become the center of a dispute that stretched beyond construction spending and into the larger fight over the independence of the Federal Reserve.
According to ABC News, senior Justice Department officials had recently contacted senators, including Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, to inform them of the decision.
Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, had made clear that he would not help move forward President Donald Trump’s nominee for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, while the Powell investigation remained open.
Pirro announced the shift in a post on X, saying the Federal Reserve’s inspector general had been asked to examine the alleged building cost overruns “that have been borne by taxpayers.”
She wrote that she expected a full report soon and said the watchdog’s findings would help resolve the questions that led her office to issue subpoenas.
“Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro wrote.
“Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”
This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers.
The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers. I…
— US Attorney Pirro (@USAttyPirro) April 24, 2026
The decision marks a sharp turn from Pirro’s position earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, she said her office was still pressing ahead, even after D.C. District Judge James Boasberg threw out subpoenas sent to Powell.
Pirro said then that prosecutors were appealing the ruling and argued that her office was operating in a legal lane, not a political one.
Tillis had urged a different course. After Boasberg’s ruling, he said the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should “save itself further embarrassment and move on,” warning that an appeal would only delay Warsh’s confirmation.
His objection carried weight because of the narrow balance on the Senate Banking Committee. With Democrats opposed and Tillis withholding support, Warsh’s nomination could not easily advance to the full Senate.
Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends next month, said in March that he would remain in the post until Warsh is confirmed. In January, he described the investigation as an effort by the Trump administration to pressure the Fed into lowering interest rates.
The White House defended the decision to move the matter to the inspector general. Spokesperson Kush Desai told ABC News that “American taxpayers deserve answers about the Federal Reserve’s fiscal mismanagement,” adding that the inspector general’s stronger authorities make that office better positioned to examine the matter. Desai also said the administration remains confident the Senate will “swiftly confirm” Warsh.
For now, the criminal probe that had shadowed Powell’s final weeks as chair is closed.
The questions over the renovation costs are not gone, but they have moved into an internal review process. That shift may be enough to unlock Warsh’s path through the Senate and begin the next chapter at the Federal Reserve.
