Federal prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office made an unannounced visit Tuesday to a Federal Reserve construction site under criminal investigation, but were turned away by a building contractor and referred to Fed attorneys, according to two people familiar with the visit. The same day, President Donald Trump renewed his threat to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell if Powell remains on the central bank’s governing board after his chairmanship expires next month.

The unannounced visit and Trump’s removal threat come as the probe — which a federal judge has described as “pretextual” and in which Pirro’s own prosecutors have admitted finding no evidence of a crime — has blocked Senate confirmation of Trump’s pick to replace Powell and complicated the administration’s broader effort to reshape the central bank.

The visit and the rebuff

Two prosecutors and an investigator from Pirro’s Washington office were turned away by a building contractor at the Fed’s headquarters construction site on Tuesday and referred to Fed attorneys, the two people said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The investigation focuses on cost overruns on the renovation project, which the Fed’s most recent estimates put at $2.5 billion — about $600 million above a 2022 estimate of $1.9 billion — and on testimony about the project that Powell gave to the Senate Banking Committee last June.

At a closed-door hearing before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last month, a top deputy from Pirro’s office conceded that the office had not found any evidence of a crime, the AP reported. Boasberg concluded that prosecutors’ interest in the renovation project was “pretextual.”

Robert Hur, an attorney for the Fed’s board of governors, sent an email to Pirro’s prosecutors after Tuesday’s visit — reviewed by the AP — that cited the judge’s finding and warned against trying to route around it.

“Should you wish to challenge that finding, the courts provide an avenue for you; it is not appropriate for you to try to circumvent it,” Hur wrote.

Tillis blocks Warsh confirmation

The probe has created an unexpected obstacle for Trump’s effort to install a new Fed chair. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is a key member of the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to vote against Kevin Warsh — Trump’s nominee to replace Powell — until the investigation is dropped. With the committee closely divided on partisan lines, Tillis’ opposition is enough to block Warsh from receiving committee approval.

Seven Republican members of the banking panel have said they do not believe Powell committed a crime when he testified last June, Tillis said Wednesday. He called the investigation “bogus, ill-timed, ill-informed.”

“There really is no path,” Tillis told reporters, adding that Pirro and her aides were “asleep at the switch” because the probe has in effect delayed Powell’s departure despite Trump’s sustained pressure on the Fed chair. Tillis also said Pirro appeared to have acted without coordinating with the White House.

“They should have consulted with the White House, because I’m sure if they would have, (the White House) would have said, ‘no, we can wait,’” until Powell steps down, Tillis said.

Kevin Hassett, the Trump administration’s top economist, said the Justice Department got involved because “the president wanted to investigate the cost overrun,” according to Axios.

The Banking Committee said Tuesday it will hold a hearing on Warsh’s nomination on April 21. Sen. Tim Scott, the South Carolina Republican who chairs the committee, said he believed the investigation would be “wrapped up in the next few weeks,” allowing Warsh to be confirmed soon after.

Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but he said last month he would remain as chair until a replacement is named. Powell has also said he will not leave the Fed’s governing board until the investigation is resolved — a position that, if held, would deny Trump the opportunity to appoint an additional member to the seven-member board.

Trump, in an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox Business, confirmed his desire to press ahead with the investigation and escalated his threat over Powell’s board seat.

“Well then I’ll have to fire him, OK?” Trump said.

Trump has for months sought to pressure the Fed to cut interest rates, arguing lower rates would give the economy a rapid boost. Powell has said the investigation is a pretext to undermine the Fed’s independence on rate-setting. Trump confirmed in the interview that he wants the probe to continue.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said Trump faces a legal constraint. Trump can only fire a Fed governor “for cause,” meaning some documented misconduct, Hawley said. “So that’s a pretty tall order,” he added.

Supreme Court weighs parallel case

The Supreme Court is separately weighing Trump’s effort to remove Fed governor Lisa Cook. Lower courts have allowed Cook to remain in her position while her legal challenge to the firing continues, and the court appeared likely to keep her on the Fed when it heard arguments in January, the AP reported. Cook has denied allegations of mortgage fraud cited as justification for her removal.

The Supreme Court has permitted the firings of heads of other governmental agencies at the president’s discretion without claims of wrongdoing, while signaling it is approaching the Fed’s independence more cautiously, calling the central bank “a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity.”