Sen. Thom Tillis said on Sunday he will lift his hold on the nomination of Kevin Warsh to serve as chair of the Federal Reserve, signaling that Warsh is likely to advance quickly toward confirmation prior to current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s planned departure on May 15.
The North Carolina Republican made the announcement on NBC’s Meet the Press after the Justice Department on Friday dropped a criminal probe into Powell related to alleged cost overruns during renovations at the Fed’s Washington headquarters. That DOJ action removed the single condition Tillis had made public for his support of Warsh.
"I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh, I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair," Tillis said on the program.
He added that assurances from the Justice Department were necessary to protect the central bank’s independence: "We were very clear that we have assurances from the DOJ that I needed to make sure they were not using the DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his confirmation on time."
Tillis had cast a pivotal vote on the Senate Banking Committee. His earlier refusal to support the nomination left the panel deadlocked at 12-12, preventing Warsh, whom Tillis favors, from advancing to a full Senate floor vote. With Tillis prepared to proceed, Warsh’s path to confirmation is expected to clear.
The Justice Department’s decision to end the criminal inquiry followed a development involving the U.S. Attorney leading the matter. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro reversed course after a federal judge blocked subpoenas her office had issued to the Federal Reserve, despite having said days earlier she would continue to pursue the investigation.
Those developments satisfied the condition Tillis had set publicly, enabling him to support moving the nomination forward. The confirmation process will now proceed toward a potential Senate vote ahead of the May 15 transition at the central bank.
Contextual note - The statements and sequence above reflect Tillis’s public remarks and the DOJ’s recent action as reported on Sunday and Friday respectively.