Tillis Blocks AG Nominee, Shields Institutions

0:00On April 30th, Senator Tom Tillis, from North Carolina, just flexed his muscle again. After pushing the Justice Department to drop its probe into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, he's now telling the Trump administration hillblock, any attorney general nominee who soft pedals the January 6 riot at the Capitol. That Fed standoff wrapped up this week when Tillis finally voted to advance nominee Kevin Worsh to the full Senate. He'd held it up for months, arguing the investigation threatened the central bank's independence. U.S. Attorney Janine Piro announced the probe's end last week after Tillis chatted with DOJ folks multiple times. Tillis sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee where Republicans hold just the one vote edge on confirmations. As the last Senator to leave the chamber on January 6th, he's drawing a hard line, saying he'll vet nominees against his own strict standard. It's rare for a Republican to strong arm his own party's White House like this. Unlike the Fed's spot with its May 15 deadline for Powell's term, the attorney general

1:00gig has no rush. Deputy Todd Blanche is acting AG and can stay put for months. Tillis is retiring in January anyway, so he's speaking freely, even clapping back at Trump's Fox News tab that he already quit the Senate. This all underscores Tillis' push to shield key institutions from politics, from the Fed to the filibuster rule that keeps the Senate balanced. He's betting his leverage holds no matter the timeline. I'm Cory with the story. That's your US News Today update. AI powered and always on.