(Bloomberg) -- Before his new Federal Reserve chief can even begin pushing for interest-rate cuts, President Donald Trump may have to give up on punishing the old one.

Trump’s nominee, Kevin Warsh, would normally be expected to take charge when Jerome Powell’s term as chair ends in mid-May. But Powell is the focus of a criminal probe launched by Trump’s Department of Justice — an unprecedented move that riled up even some of the president’s allies in Congress, and left a key GOP lawmaker vowing to block all Fed appointments until it’s resolved.

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Senator Thom Tillis is positioned to follow through on his threat, as a swing voter on the Banking Committee, which has to greenlight nominations. Tillis has condemned the DOJ probe over building renovations at the Fed as an attack on the central bank’s independence. And he enjoys some support from GOP lawmakers who take the view that it’s one thing for Trump to call Powell a “bonehead” and quite another to threaten criminal charges.

So far Tillis is sticking to his guns. “This process of prosecution has to end before I’m willing to vote to confirm anybody — even somebody as good as Warsh,” he told reporters Friday, calling the investigation into Powell “bogus.”

Trump isn’t backing off either. On Friday, he again called Powell a “crook” over the building renovations, saying that the work involves “either gross incompetence, or it’s theft.” The president even indicated that he’s willing to wait until Tillis retires, as he’s slated to do in January 2027, before Warsh is confirmed by the Senate.

That would open up complex questions over an interim leadership — and, perhaps more important from the administration’s viewpoint, postpone the moment when a Warsh Fed can start doing what Trump wants it to do: loosen US monetary policy to juice growth. GOP majorities in Congress are at risk in November’s elections with polls showing voters unhappy with the economy.

In the event Warsh isn’t confirmed by May 15, who gets to pick a stand-in chair — essentially either the White House or the Fed’s Board of Governors — is an unresolved legal question. Recent precedents aren’t much help. The board installed Powell “pro tempore” in 2022, pending his confirmation for a second term, but approval was seen as locked-in and nobody paid much attention.

Among Trump’s aides and allies, there’s no desire to hang around and put that question to the test.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said the Senate impasse “is an issue that should get resolved quickly.” The White House is looking forward to “quickly” confirming Warsh, spokesman Kush Desai said. “We need to get closure on the Powell thing quickly,” is how Senate Majority Leader John Thune put it on Friday.

While the administration has every incentive to seek an off-ramp from the Powell investigation, there’s no immediate sign it’s doing so. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they didn’t think the president is telling the DOJ to stop.

“I don’t think the timing of President Trump’s decision to nominate somebody is a controlling factor in any investigation,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a Friday press conference.

The Fed and DOJ are declining to comment on whether the subpoenas delivered to the central bank last month — which prompted Powell to accuse Trump of intimidation tactics — have been complied with. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had previously indicated that if the Fed’s response to the subpoenas was satisfactory, the DOJ could simply “move on.” But he’s subsequently defended the investigation.

Even if the administration prefers to back away from the probe, it’s not clear whether that would remove all legal jeopardy for Powell — or at least persuade Tillis on that score.

Earlier: A Fed That Fights Back Threatens Trump’s Takeover Plan

“Unless you explicitly tell me that the criminal investigation is closed, it’s very hard to get that comfort that the prosecutor isn’t going to change their mind,” said Paul Tuchmann, a former federal prosecutor and now partner at law firm Wiggin and Dana.

The legal action was widely seen as an escalation of Trump’s campaign to browbeat the Fed into slashing interest rates. It’s been a persistent worry for investors, who think monetary policy should be walled off from political pressure. They’re now waiting to see if Warsh’s Fed will be more susceptible to it than Powell’s.

The outgoing Fed chair mostly turned the other cheek to Trump’s barbs. But on Jan. 11 Powell said that the DOJ had served the Fed grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment over his June testimony about ongoing building renovations.

In a forceful video statement, Powell promised to protect Fed independence. There was also more pushback from inside the GOP than there’d been after Trump’s prior attacks on the Fed — including from Tillis, who immediately said he would oppose any nominee for chair until the matter was “fully resolved.”

He has plenty of backing in Congress, where Fed independence broadly enjoys bipartisan support. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said last week she supports the Tillis blockade — while the chamber’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said Warsh’s nomination should be held until Trump drops his “vendetta.”

Assuming Democrats on the banking committee line up with Tillis, they’d have the votes to hold up a nomination.

At his press conference last week, Powell declined to offer any information about whether Fed lawyers had responded to the subpoenas, although Trump later said on social media that they had not. Legal experts say it could be weeks before the Fed’s lawyers are able to respond, and even longer for a review of the documents.

--With assistance from Chris Strohm, Jarrell Dillard and Skylar Woodhouse.

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