Thom Tillis vows to keep blocking Fed nominee and says Trump should apologize for pope attacks

EXCLUSIVEIran warIran warTillis vows to keep blocking Fed nominee and says Trump should apologize for pope attacksThe North Carolina senator tries not to criticize the president directly, but has a lot of thoughts about those who are giving Donald Trump "bad advice."Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., spoke to NBC News from his office in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.Frank Thorp V / NBC NewsShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 15, 2026, 5:24 PM EDTBy Julie TsirkinWASHINGTON — During an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that aired Wednesday, President Donald Trump suggested Sen. Thom Tillis, a centrist Republican who has occasionally broken with the president, “already quit” the Senate and wouldn’t be a factor in confirming his nominees.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But Tillis is still here. And as a member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he’s exercising his ability to single-handedly block Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as the head of the Federal Reserve.In an extensive interview with NBC News, Tillis called Warsh “a perfect candidate,” but maintained that he would not vote to confirm him until the Trump administration ends its federal criminal probe into Powell.Add NBC News to GoogleThom Tillis on losing his 'filter' and Trump's war with Iran08:43Warsh’s confirmation hearing to replace Powell is scheduled for next week, and he cannot be confirmed without Tillis’ vote, as long as Democrats remain unified against Trump’s pick.Tillis blasted the investigation, saying Powell did nothing wrong. He said he takes the president at his word that he was not involved in opening the investigation, despite Trump’s criticism of and threats to fire Powell, who has refused his pressure to cut interest rates. Instead, he suggested “somebody in DOJ” was going after...