Sen. Thom Tillis (RN.C.) on Thursday rejected a proposal aimed at ending the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the controversial Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and paving the way for confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
The off-ramp proposal, proposed by at least one Republican this week, would turn over the investigation into Mr. Powell from the Justice Department to the Senate Banking Committee.
This idea is an attempt to thread the political needle. That would satisfy President Donald Trump, who supports a Justice Department investigation, while also eliminating the threat of criminal prosecution against Mr. Powell, which prompted Mr. Tillis of the Banking Committee to declare a Warsh blockade.
But Tillis poured cold water on that proposal Thursday morning.
“We’re not going to conduct an investigation on the ground,” Tillis told reporters at the Capitol. “We have to have an independent Fed, and we can’t do this subtly.”
“Either they move forward with a convincing investigation that convinces me that I was wrong, or they resolve the current investigation and move on,” he said.
Asked specifically about the idea of the Banking Committee taking over the reins from the Justice Department, Tillis was unmoved.
“We will monitor, but we will not prosecute,” he said.
“The administration was surprised by it, but I believe they didn’t know,” he said of the White House’s ignorance of the Justice Department investigation. “But at the end of the day, if that doesn’t get resolved, I’m not going to allow a successful price increase,” he said of Warsh’s nomination.
“And I don’t see a path forward because I believe most Democrats are not going to vote yes,” he added.
This is developing news. Please check back for the latest information.
—CNBC’s Emily Wilkins and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
