Tillis ends block of Fed chair nominee Warsh, clears way for Trump pick

sen. thom tillis ended his blockade of kevin warsh's nomination to lead the fed on sunday, after the doj dropped its criminal investigation of current chair jerome powell. the senate banking committee is set to vote on warsh's confirmation on wednesday, and the full senate could take it up shortly after. tillis's vote is critical — the committee has 13 republicans and 11 democrats, so one gop defection would have deadlocked it. tillis had vowed to withhold his vote until the doj dropped its probe into powell over alleged cost overruns from renovations at the fed building. u.s. attorney jeanine pirro announced friday she was turning the investigation over to the fed inspector general's office. tillis said he got assurances from doj officials that "the current investigation is completely and fully ended." acting attorney general todd blanche said on "meet the press" that if the ig uncovers criminal evidence, "there is no doubt that we will investigate." warsh said in his confirmation hearing on tuesday he wants "regime change" at the fed, including changing how it measures inflation and communicates. he's expected to push for rate cuts, though he'll need to convince fellow fomc members. powell can remain a voting board member until january 2028 even after stepping down as chair, and said he plans to do so.