The Justice Department is closing its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major obstacle that had stalled the confirmation of President Trump's pick to run the central bank.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Friday that her office would shut down the probe, which had examined whether Powell committed fraud or misled Congress regarding the Fed's multibillion-dollar building renovation project.
The move unblocks a path to confirmation after Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina had refused to advance the nomination until the investigation concluded. Tillis had used the pending inquiry as leverage to keep the process stalled.
Pirro said the closure comes as the Federal Reserve's Inspector General takes over scrutiny of the building cost overruns that have run billions of dollars and landed on taxpayers. "The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers," Pirro wrote on X. "I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas."
Powell first disclosed the subpoenas in January. Investigators had been examining records tied to the central bank's renovation expenses and whether the Fed chair had provided accurate information about those costs to lawmakers.
The decision represents a dramatic reversal in what had become an unprecedented criminal inquiry into a sitting Federal Reserve chairman. The investigation had created unusual friction between the central bank's leadership and the Justice Department, adding complexity to Powell's position at the helm of monetary policy.
With the DOJ stepping back, the path is clearer for Trump's nominee to advance through the Senate confirmation process. Tillis had made clear that closing the investigation was a condition for moving forward, and Pirro's announcement removes that final hold.
The Inspector General's review will continue independently, giving lawmakers and the public another avenue to examine how the Fed managed the costly renovation project and whether Powell's prior statements about it stand up to scrutiny.
Author James Rodriguez: "Tillis got what he wanted, but outsourcing accountability to an IG review hardly resolves whether Powell was straight with Congress on those billions in building costs."
Comments