The move could lead to a quick Senate confirmation vote for Warsh, a former top Fed official who US President Donald Trump nominated in January to replace Powell, whose term as chairman ends on May 15.
The US Department of Justice has completed its investigation into the president of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, thus overcoming an obstacle to the confirmation of his successor, Kevin Warsh.
The US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeannine Pirro, said this Friday on the social network
The move could lead to a quick Senate confirmation vote for Warsh, a former senior Fed official who US President Donald Trump nominated in January to replace Powell, whose term as chairman ends on May 15.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, had said he would oppose Warsh until the investigation was resolved, effectively blocking his confirmation.
With the investigation complete, the leadership transition at the central bank can move forward quickly.
Republicans praised Warsh during a hearing on Tuesday, even as Democrats questioned his independence from Trump, lack of transparency regarding some of his financial positions and what they said was his reversal on interest rates.
Yet Trump’s previous nominee to the Fed’s board of governors, Stephen Miran, was approved by the Senate just 13 days after his nomination.
The investigation was one of several carried out by the Justice Department into alleged Trump adversaries. For months, the operation failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis for suspected criminal conduct.
A prosecutor handling the case admitted in a closed-door hearing in March that the government had yet to find any evidence of a crime, and a judge later quashed the subpoenas issued to the Fed.
Judge James Boasberg said prosecutors presented “virtually zero evidence” to suspect Powell of a crime, calling the justification “weak and baseless.”
More recently, prosecutors made an unannounced visit to a construction site at Fed headquarters but were refused entry, prompting a rebuke from a defense attorney in the case, who called the maneuver “inappropriate.”
Warsh said during Tuesday’s Senate hearing that he never promised the White House he would cut interest rates, even as the president renewed his calls for the central bank to do so.
“The president never asked me to commit to any specific decision on interest rates, period,” said Kevin Warsh, a former top Fed official, under questioning from the Senate Banking Committee.
“Nor would I ever agree to do it if I had done it”, he indicated, guaranteeing that he will be “an independent actor if he is confirmed as president of the Federal Reserve”.
Warsh’s comments came just hours after Trump, in an interview on CNBC, was asked if he would be disappointed if Warsh didn’t immediately cut rates, and he responded, “I would be.”
