Warsh Fed nomination hearing set for mid-April

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh to become the next chairman of the Fed on April 16, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Warsh’s nomination continues to move forward even as a separate criminal investigation into the Fed continues, creating a potential conflict between two parallel processes set in motion by the Trump administration.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R.-N.C., a member of the Banking Committee, said he would not vote to confirm Warsh until the investigation is resolved. But President Donald Trump is eager to confirm Warsh.

Tillis’ opposition means Trump can’t do both. But he’s trying to do it anyway by pushing the trial forward.

The committee has not yet included the hearing in its public schedule. Warsh and a spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee declined to comment.

Politico previously reported that the committee was planning the hearing.

The criminal investigation is investigating allegations that current Fed chair Jerome Powell lied to Congress about the status of expensive renovations at Fed offices. Powell has denounced the investigation as a pretext to pressure him to lower interest rates as Trump has demanded.

Congress tasked the Fed with setting interest rates independently of political considerations. Central banks that act independently are generally more successful in fighting inflation. The risk of a re-acceleration in prices as the Iran war increases energy costs is creating increasing concern in the United States.

A federal judge sided with Powell on the issue. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday denied the government’s request to reconsider its decision to quash subpoenas to the Fed. This means the subpoenas are not moving forward and the status of the investigation is unclear.

“We will certainly object to the judge’s interference with our access to the grand jury,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a statement Saturday. he said.

Tillis’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the weekend.

Tillis praised Warsh’s reputation but said he would not lift the blockade until his concerns about the Fed’s independence were eliminated.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in March critical letter He accused Warsh of having “learned nothing from his failures” during his previous tenure at the central bank, predicting that she would serve as a “rubber stamp for President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda.”

Warsh had previously declined to comment on the letter. Federal candidates rarely speak publicly before their hearings.

Meanwhile, other changes are underway at the Justice Department that could give prosecutors the opportunity to focus on the Powell case. Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday and appointed Todd Blanche as acting attorney general on an interim basis. Before joining the administration, he was Trump’s defense attorney.

The administration has said it is up to the Justice Department to decide whether to investigate Powell. But Trump has repeatedly signaled his support for the investigation.

Trump said on March 19 that there was “crime” regarding the Fed’s construction spending.

If so, the government could not prove it to the judge.

“The government’s fundamental problem is its inability to present any evidence of fraud,” Boasberg wrote in Friday’s ruling. he wrote.