Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference on December 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s calls to investigate the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell, pointing to a “mountain of evidence” that President Donald Trump is using the investigation to force lower interest rates, according to an order unsealed Friday.
In a scathing way Order on 27 pages on Wednesday, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that “there is ample evidence that the predominant (if not sole) purpose of the subpoenas is to harass and pressure Powell to resign from the presidency or to resign and step aside as Fed chairman.”
Explaining his rationale for granting the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ request to waive the subpoenas, Boasberg added: “For years, the president has publicly attacked Powell because the Fed is not delivering the low interest rates Trump is demanding.”
Boasberg wrote that Trump or “his surrogates” have spoken out against Powell more than 100 times. The judge detailed more than a dozen posts by Trump on his Truth Social platform in which he called out Powell and demanded his resignation.
Boasberg also cited the position of the Trump administration trying initiating criminal proceedings against former FBI Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
“Being perceived as an opponent of the president has become risky in recent years,” Boasberg wrote.
Boasberg later wrote an order that he would also unseal the Fed Board’s request to quash the government’s subpoenas and objections because Justice Department officials had already released details of the investigation.
The government “provided virtually no evidence to implicate Chairman Powell in committing a crime; in fact, his justifications are so flimsy and baseless that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual. The Court therefore finds that the subpoenas were issued for an improper purpose and will invalidate them,” Boasberg concluded.
The prosecutor questions the verdict
During a brief news conference Friday afternoon during which she became belligerent with reporters, District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro blasted Boasberg’s decision as “outrageous” and said the administration planned to appeal.
“One of the age-old tools that all prosecutors have in investigating any crime, including cost overruns, is the grand jury subpoena. But today in Washington, an activist judge took that tool away from us by interfering and preventing the grand jury from even obtaining, let alone hearing, evidence,” Pirro said.
“He neutered the grand jury’s ability to conduct criminal investigations. As a result, Jerome Powell today is bathed in immunity, preventing my office from investigating the Federal Reserve. This is inappropriate and has no legal force,” she said.
The investigation was initiated in January
Justice Department officials served the central bank with grand jury subpoenas in mid-January as part of an investigation into the multiyear costs of renovating the Fed’s Washington offices and whether Powell lied to Congress about it in June.
The calls prompted a sporadic video appearance by Powell, who alleged that the calls were not about oversight of construction costs but about the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates.
Powell’s term as chairman expires in May.
He was replaced by Trump nominated bank executive and former Fed Board Governor Kevin Warsh, who will need the support of all Republicans on the closely divided Senate Banking Committee to gain a full majority in the Senate.
Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who serves on the committee, said he would withhold support for Warsh until the administration completes its investigation into Powell.
“This ruling confirms how weak and frivolous the investigation into Chairman Powell is and is nothing more than a failed attack on the Fed’s independence,” Tillis said in a statement Friday.
“We all know how this ends,” he continued. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on. Appealing the verdict will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chairman.”
Trump nominated Powell for the role during his first term, and President Joe Biden renominated him in 2021. The Senate confirmed his nomination by supermajority votes in both cases.
