Sen. Thom Tillis Vows To Block All Fed Nominees After DOJ Probe Into Jerome Powell
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has vowed to block all of President Donald Trump’s future appointments to the Federal Reserve — including the next vacant chair position — citing the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell.
Tillis, a retired lawmaker who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, wields considerable influence over who Trump is able to confirm to the Fed. (RELATED: DOJ Opens Investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell)
“If there remained any doubt about whether advisors within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should be none,” Tillis wrote in a statement after news of the federal investigation was made public Sunday evening.
“It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question,” Tillis added.
Republicans hold a 13-11 majority on the panel, meaning a “no” vote from Tillis would leave a potential Trump nominee short of the votes needed to make it out of committee on a party-line vote. In this case, Republicans could attempt to promote a potential Fed nominee through a different procedural route, but this could also fail if there is sufficient opposition from the Republican Party.
Powell, who was first named Fed chairman during the first Trump administration and then reappointed under former President Joe Biden, is expected to step down as chairman on May 15, although he could remain as Fed governor until 2028.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh are among the leading contenders to succeed Powell.
Powell said the Justice Department had opened an investigation into her testimony before Congress in June 2025 regarding the central bank construction project and that the Fed had received grand jury subpoenas threatening her with criminal indictment, in a statement released Sunday. Trump has already criticized the new construction project for serious cost overruns.
Powell also argued that the investigation was a “pretext” for Trump to force the Fed to continue lowering interest rates and erode the central bank’s independence.
“This unprecedented action must be seen in the broader context of the administration’s continued threats and pressure,” Powell said in a dramatic video. “This new threat does not concern my testimony last June or the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It does not concern the oversight role of Congress; the Fed, through testimony and other public disclosures, has done everything possible to keep Congress informed of the renovation project. These are only pretexts.”
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 10: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump denied knowledge of the criminal investigation into Powell during a brief interview with NBC News on Sunday evening.
“I don’t know, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” the president said of Powell.
Tillis became a vocal Republican Party critic of Trump during his second term. The North Carolina Republican criticized Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) for cutting federal Medicaid spending by $1 trillion, which he said would cause hundreds of thousands of his constituents to lose health coverage.
Federal Medicaid spending is still estimated to skyrocket by about 8% in fiscal year 2026, according to KFF, a nonprofit health research organization.
Tillis also recently criticized the Trump administration for not ruling out the possibility of using military force to take control of Greenland. The incumbent Republican has consistently refused to join Democrats and a handful of defector Republicans in supporting a war powers resolution that would prevent Trump from using military force against Venezuela in the future.
Tillis also suspended all future Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominees until DHS Secretary Kristi Noem agrees to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“My president [Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley] “This is unacceptable.”
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