Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called 13 lawmakers in the week after the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal probe into his conduct, according to a report by The Hill.
The calls are listed on Powell’s public calendar for January and all were 10 to 15 minutes in length, The Hill said. Powell spoke with lawmakers from both the House and Senate and from both sides of the aisle.
On Monday, Jan. 12, the day after Powell revealed the DOJ was investigating the Fed, he spoke with GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia), Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) and John Kennedy (Louisiana.) and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, The Hill reported.
Both Kennedy and Warner are on the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). After speaking with Powell, Murkowski denounced the DOJ’s investigation of the central bank and said Congress should investigate the department.
The DOJ probe is being conducted by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, and officially concerns cost overruns for the Fed’s estimated $2.5 billion renovation, The Hill said.
According to news reports, the cost of the project, initially projected to be $1.9 billion, has risen because of higher costs for materials and labor, among other issues highlighted by the Fed.
Powell Says Probe a Show of Force
In confirming the probe’s existence, Powell said earlier this year that it was not about the renovation, but instead a show of force by President Donald Trump — who repeatedly attacked the central bank and Powell last year for not backing an earlier or larger cut to interest rates.
“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” Powell said at the time.
According to records, The Hill said that on the morning of Jan. 13, Powell spoke with Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), a member of the House Financial Services Committee and a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. That afternoon, Powell spoke with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), followed by a call the next day with Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), a member of the Banking Committee.
The Hill said he spoke on Jan. 15 with five lawmakers: House Financial Services Committee members Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Maxine Waters (Calif.) — the latter of whom is the top Democrat on the panel — along with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Scott, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
While Scott has criticized Powell as “inept,” he told CNBC that the Fed chair did not commit a criminal act while discussing the renovation in front of the Banking Committee last June — the center of the DOJ’s probe.
“I was asking the questions that [are] the basis of the inquiry,” the Scott said. “So I believe that he was wrong, but not creating any criminal activity.”
Also in January, Powell met twice with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for breakfast, once at the Treasury Department and another time at the Fed’s Marriner S. Eccles building. The Hill noted that on the day of his second meeting with Bessent, Powell also spoke with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the former House majority leader.
Kevin Warsh Tapped as Next Fed Chair
Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell as Fed chair last month. Powell’s term ends in May.
Warsh, a former member of the central bank’s board of governors, is subject to confirmation by the Senate Banking Committee and the full upper chamber before he can take his post when Powell’s term expires in May.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the banking panel, has denounced the DOJ’s probe into Powell as a threat to the central bank’s independence and is opposing any of the president’s Fed nominees until it is resolved.
Tillis met with Warsh on Tuesday and praised him, writing on the social platform X that he “possesses impeccable credentials and a clear vision for maintaining the Fed’s independence while achieving its dual mandate.”
But the North Carolina Republican added that the “ongoing investigation prevents me from voting for Kevin at this time.”
