Trump-Tillis tiff deepens as president says he ‘quit,’ concedes Fed fight could doom new chair confirmation

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve is headed to the Senate next week, but Trump is worried that one Senate Republican could doom the confirmation process.

Kevin Warsh is scheduled for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee after his initial hearing set for this week was canceled. But his odds of moving to the next — and final — step of the process are low, given that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., plans to block him.

And Trump isn’t happy about it.

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When asked by Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo about Warsh’s chances in the Senate, Trump said, “We’re going to have to find out.”

“He might not, but that’s why Thom Tillis is no longer a senator,” Trump said. “He quit.”

Tillis, despite announcing plans to retire from Congress at the end of his term this year, is still an active U.S. Senator and would have full voting rights if Warsh’s confirmation comes up for a vote before January 2027.

Fox News Digital reached out to Tillis’ office for comment on the president’s latest comments.

The North Carolina senator has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration ever since Tillis bucked his fellow Republicans in their pursuit of steep Medicaid cuts last year during the creation of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

That rebellious streak has continued as the Department of Justice probe into current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has progressed.

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Tillis’ beef isn’t with Warsh specifically — a point he has reiterated on several occasions — but with the DOJ’s investigation into Powell’s testimony last year about the Fed’s renovation of its two historic main buildings on the National Mall.

“I love the candidate. I won’t spend my five minutes [in committee] asking him about his credentials, because he has them,” Tillis said. “I’ll spend five minutes talking about a bogus investigation that’s going to cause me to vote no, unless they end the investigation.”

“There’s no way to sugarcoat this,” he continued. “There’s one way out of the box, canyon, and they’ve got to decide whether or not they’re going to do it.”

Prosecutors from U.S. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office reportedly visited the Federal Reserve’s headquarters unannounced on Tuesday.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has spoken with the White House about halting the investigation.

“I think, at some point, they’re gonna have to deal with the committee, they’re gonna have to deal with Tillis,” Thune said. “And I think it’s in everybody’s best interest to wrap up the investigation.”

Meanwhile, given the uncertainty surrounding his predecessor, Powell said he would stay on temporarily until a replacement is confirmed. But Trump said he would fire Powell if he wasn’t out by next month.

Trump charged that Tillis wouldn’t “want the legacy of stopping a great person who could be great.”

“I think Kevin Warsh is going to be great. He doesn’t want the legacy of having an incompetent guy stay there for longer than is necessary,” Trump said. “I know Thom Tillis. He’s a good man. I don’t think he’s going to hurt — I know he said what he said, and maybe it’s true, in which case I’ll have to live with it.”

Tillis is working to make sure that, until the investigation is dropped, there’s no way Warsh makes it out of committee.

“I don’t think there’s any mechanism where he gets reported out of committee, but I’m already working to make sure votes will be held on the floor until we have a definitive answer,” he said.