A senior Republican senator has launched a blistering attack on what he calls an "unprecedented" criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as former President Donald Trump mocked the central banker's performance.
Senator's Stark Warning Over Fed Independence
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis issued a stark warning on Sunday, declaring that the Justice Department probe directly threatens the cherished independence of both the Federal Reserve and the Justice Department itself. A member of the influential Senate Banking Committee, which oversees Fed nominations, Tillis took the extraordinary step of vowing to block any future nominees for the Fed until the matter is fully resolved.
"If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none," Tillis wrote in a fiery statement on X. He emphasised that the credibility of the Department of Justice is now also in question.
The senator's pledge extends to the upcoming vacancy for Fed Chair, with Powell's term set to expire in May. His forceful stance is amplified by his unusual political position; having announced his retirement later this year, he is freed from immediate electoral pressure after publicly breaking with Trump last summer.
Trump Distances Himself While Attacking Powell
The rebuke from Capitol Hill came as Donald Trump sought to distance himself from the investigation while simultaneously launching fresh verbal attacks on Powell. "I don't know anything about it, but he's certainly not very good at the Fed, and he's not very good at building buildings," Trump remarked.
The former president's jibe references the core of the criminal probe, which centres on cost overruns tied to a massive renovation of the Fed's 88-year-old Washington headquarters. The facelift of the Marriner S. Eccles Building and a neighbouring structure has seen costs surge by roughly $600 million from an original $1.9 billion estimate, driven largely by security upgrades like blast-resistant windows.
Trump has repeatedly floated removing Powell and last month told Politico he would judge Powell's successor on their willingness to cut interest rates immediately. His unusual visit to the construction site in July, where he and Powell publicly sparred over costs while wearing hard hats, highlighted the tension.
Powell's Defiant Response and Bipartisan Outrage
Jerome Powell confirmed on Sunday that the Federal Reserve has been served with grand jury subpoenas, calling the move part of an extraordinary pressure campaign linked to the administration's frustration with Fed policy. In a defiant statement, he said the subpoenas received on Friday threatened a criminal indictment related to his Senate testimony in June about the renovation project.
"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President," Powell asserted. He dismissed claims the probe was about misleading Congress or fund misuse as "pretexts."
The controversy has sparked bipartisan outrage. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Trump of attempting "to complete his corrupt takeover" of the Fed by pushing Powell out to install a compliant "sock puppet."
The criminal investigation was approved in November by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally. It focuses on whether Powell misrepresented the scope and cost of the renovation during his testimony. Prosecutors are examining his public statements, internal records, and spending on the overhaul of the historic buildings near the National Mall.
Powell has consistently defended the project as necessary to remove asbestos and lead, modernise crumbling infrastructure, and comply with accessibility laws. Following his June testimony, the Fed published detailed explanations, photographs, and a virtual tour to back his claims, attributing overruns to inflation, labour costs, and unexpected contamination.
Nevertheless, this unprecedented legal threat has plunged the world's most powerful central bank into turmoil, intensifying fears that its long-guarded operational independence is under direct and sustained assault from political forces.
