The Senator Who Almost Lost His Soul For Political Expedience

Lame duck North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis on Sunday said he would ​allow Senate confirmation of Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh to go forward after the Department of Justice on Friday ‌dropped an investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell that Tillis viewed as a threat to the central bank’s political independence.

That investigation was brought forth because Powell was believed to have recklessly overspent the budget on the refurbishment of the Washington DC Federal Reserve Headquarters building.

After months of stalling, Tillis said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning, "I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair.”

Well, la-de-dah. All because the DOJ was prepared to drop the charge.  

This past Friday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on X that she was ending it and would ask ​the Fed’s own inspector general, already months into its own review of the renovations, to take over. This was an excellent move  by Judge Jeanine.

Senator Tillis, who is not a Trump supporter, used President Trump's criticism of Chair Powell's resistance to  reduce interest rates. And Tillis latched onto this as reason to stall Trump's nominee, even as he claims he actually supports Warsh, who he claims has "impeccable" credentials.

Warsh, a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, has promised to overhaul the Fed’s approach to ‌monetary policy ⁠and to cooperate more closely on non-monetary policy matters with the Treasury and other parts of government.

As for Tillis, he believes he is now the "white knight" who "saved" Warsh's nomination, after almost sandbagging it. He expects now to be considered the savior who went beyond his conscience.

But his legacy will be the man who almost betrayed his own soul.