Sen. Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who spent months blocking President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, reversed course Sunday and said he will vote to confirm Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chairman. The announcement removes the last major obstacle within the GOP conference and sets up a Senate Banking Committee vote as early as Wednesday.
Tillis made the announcement on NBC's "Meet the Press," telling host Kristen Welker that assurances from the Department of Justice had satisfied his concerns. The senator had placed a hold on any Trump Fed nominee in January 2026, arguing that a DOJ investigation tied to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was being used as political leverage against the central bank.
That hold is now lifted. And with it, the most consequential intra-party standoff over Trump's economic agenda moves toward resolution.
The senator's explanation centered on one thing: the DOJ probe is over, and he got it in writing. As the Daily Caller reported, Tillis told Welker he was satisfied the investigation had been fully closed and that no pending appeal could reopen it.
Tillis said on "Meet the Press":
"I am prepared and, with the assurances from the Department of Justice that the case is completely and fully settled, that the appeal would only be used to potentially abrogate or change the ruling for administrative purposes, not as a basis for reopening the investigation, and that the only way an investigation would be open would be a criminal referral from one of the most respected inspector generals there."
He followed that with a clear endorsement of the nominee: "I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he's going to be a great Fed chair."
Tillis was careful to frame his months-long blockade as a matter of institutional principle, not personal opposition to Warsh. The New York Post reported that Tillis had viewed the Powell investigation as a threat to the Fed's political independence and said his objections were never about Warsh's qualifications.
Tillis is no stranger to bucking his own party when he believes the principle warrants it. He previously called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's dismissal, drawing attention for his willingness to challenge Trump administration personnel publicly.
The backstory involves a sprawling renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, and allegations that Powell misled Congress about its cost. In June 2025, Powell testified before the Senate Banking Committee about the project. Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna referred Powell to the Justice Department in July 2025, alleging he had lied to the committee about the renovations.
Then, on July 24, Trump toured the Fed headquarters with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. During that visit, Trump questioned Powell directly about the renovation and presented him with documents that supposedly showed the project's cost had ballooned to $3.1 billion, roughly a 25 percent overrun.
The DOJ opened a probe. Tillis watched, and acted. On January 12, 2026, he announced he would oppose any of Trump's picks for the Federal Reserve until the investigation was resolved. His reasoning: if the DOJ was using the probe as a cudgel to pressure Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning before his term ended, that would compromise the Fed's independence.
It was a bold move. With a narrow Republican majority on the Senate Banking Committee, Tillis's single vote was enough to stall Warsh's nomination entirely. AP News reported that Tillis had been the key Republican holdout, and his opposition alone could block the nomination in committee despite unified Democratic opposition.
That kind of leverage from a single senator is not unusual in a closely divided chamber. It mirrors the dynamic seen when four Republican senators sided with Democrats to block the SAVE America Act from a budget package, illustrating how thin margins give individual members outsized power over the president's agenda.
The turning point came when reports surfaced that U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro had closed the investigation into the Fed renovation matter. Tillis was asked about those reports on "Meet the Press." His answer made clear that the closure, combined with formal DOJ assurances about the scope of any remaining appeal, was enough to satisfy him.
As Newsmax reported, Tillis told the program he had lifted his hold only after receiving confirmation that the DOJ had completely ended its criminal investigation and that the pending appeal could not be used to reopen it.
Tillis also offered a telling comment about Warsh's likely independence once confirmed. "I wouldn't be surprised if the president doesn't get annoyed with him once or twice," he said, a remark that suggested Warsh would not simply rubber-stamp White House preferences on monetary policy.
That comment matters. Trump has clashed openly with Powell over the Fed's failure to lower interest rates at the pace the president wanted. The tension between the White House and the central bank has been a running theme, and Tillis's remark hints that Warsh may not be the compliant chairman some critics feared.
With Tillis now on board, Senate Banking Committee Republicans have the majority needed to advance Warsh's nomination despite unified Democratic opposition. The committee planned a Wednesday vote, the Washington Examiner reported, clearing a major path for Trump's preferred candidate.
The full Senate floor vote would follow. Given the Republican majority, Warsh's confirmation now looks far more likely than it did even a week ago.
The broader question is whether this episode strengthened or weakened the norms Tillis said he was defending. He argued for months that the DOJ should not use an open investigation to pressure the sitting Fed chairman. He got the investigation closed. He got written assurances about the appeal. And then he cleared the way for the president's nominee.
Senate dynamics on Trump-backed priorities have been volatile throughout this term. The pattern, individual senators leveraging narrow margins to extract concessions before ultimately falling in line, has played out on everything from voter ID legislation to foreign policy debates.
In this case, Tillis used his leverage to force the DOJ's hand on an investigation he believed threatened institutional independence. Whether that was principled oversight or political theater depends on your view of the underlying facts, facts that remain only partially public.
Several details remain unclear. The specific "ruling" Tillis referenced in his quote, the one the appeal could only modify "for administrative purposes", has not been publicly identified. The documents Trump presented to Powell on July 24 showing the $3.1 billion cost have not been released. And while reports say Pirro closed the investigation, no public statement from her office has been cited confirming that closure.
What is clear is the political outcome. Trump gets his Fed chairman nominee moving forward. Tillis gets to say he stood on principle and extracted concessions. And Powell's tenure at the Fed moves closer to its end, under a cloud of allegations about a building renovation that somehow became a proxy fight over monetary policy, executive power, and the independence of the central bank.
The episode also underscores a recurring reality of this administration: Trump has shown a consistent ability to bring reluctant Republicans into alignment, whether through direct engagement with congressional leaders or through the sheer gravitational pull of the presidency on members who share his party label.
Tillis held the line longer than most. But in the end, the line moved, and so did he.
