Friday’s announcement is expected to pave the way for confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
Published April 24, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice has concluded its investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, removing a major hurdle to the confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
District of Columbia Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Friday’s X show that her office is closing its investigation into the Fed’s major building renovations, instead for scrutiny by the Fed’s inspector general.
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Pirro, a Trump ally and the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said he had instead asked the Fed’s internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, to investigate cost overruns for renovations at the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.
“The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve Board accountable to the American taxpayer,” Pirro said in a social media post. “I look forward to a comprehensive report in the near future, and I am confident that the results will help our office fully resolve the questions that led us to issue the subpoena.”
The move could lead to a quick Senate confirmation vote on Warsh, a former senior Federal Reserve official nominated by Republican President Donald Trump in January to replace Powell. Chairman Powell’s term ends on May 15th.
Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said he would oppose Warsh until the investigation is resolved, effectively blocking his confirmation.
Leadership changes at the world’s leading central banks could be rapid.
Republicans praised Mr. Warsh at Tuesday’s hearing, but Democrats questioned his independence from Mr. Trump, lack of transparency about some asset holdings and reversal of interest rate policy. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the committee, questioned whether Mr. Warsh would become a “sock puppet.”
Still, Trump’s last nominee to the Fed’s board, Steven Milan, was confirmed by the full Senate just 13 days after he was nominated.
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The investigation was one of several conducted by the Justice Department against individuals it deemed to be President Trump’s opponents. The case remained under the radar for months as prosecutors struggled to establish a basis for suspecting criminal wrongdoing.
Prosecutors handling the case acknowledged in a closed court hearing in March that the government had yet to discover evidence of a crime, and a judge later rescinded the subpoenas issued to the Feds.
Judge James Boasberg said there was “essentially zero evidence” for prosecutors to suspect Mr. Powell of any crime. Boasberg called the prosecution’s subpoena “weak and baseless.”
Just recently, prosecutors made an unannounced visit to the Federal Reserve’s headquarters construction site and were turned away, prompting a rebuke from defense attorneys in the case who called the operation “inappropriate.”
Warsh said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he had not committed the White House to lower interest rates, despite the president’s renewed calls for the central bank to do so.
“The president never asked me to commit to a specific interest rate decision,” Warsh said during the hearing. “If he had done it, I wouldn’t have done it either…If confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve, I would be an independent actor.”
Mr. Warsh’s comments came just hours after President Trump was asked in a CNBC interview if he would be disappointed if Mr. Warsh didn’t cut rates immediately, and he said, “I would.”
The decision to abandon the investigation marks an unusual setback for the Justice Department, which has worked aggressively over the past year, even if unsuccessfully, to prosecute public figures the president doesn’t like.
Robert Herr, a lawyer for the Federal Reserve, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
