Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh meets with more senators as Thom Tillis blockade continues

Federal Reserve chairman nominee Kevin Warsh‘s chances of getting quickly confirmed by the Senate looked as gloomy as the weather in Washington on Thursday as he met with more senators in a bid to bolster his chances.

“It doesn’t look like such a nice day today,” Warsh quipped to a CNBC reporter in the Hart Senate Office Building, as heavy rain poured outside, on his way to a chat with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

“Things are progressing well, good to see you,” Warsh said when asked how the meetings were going.

Warsh’s nomination by President Donald Trump is bogged down because of an effective blockade imposed by Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Banking Committee. That panel is the first hurdle for would-be Fed board members such as Warsh.

Tillis has vowed to vote against passing along Warsh’s nomination or any other Fed nominee to the full Senate for a confirmation vote as long as a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell remains in progress.

Powell has said the criminal probe by the Department of Justice is the result of him and other Fed board members refusing to cut interest rates as quickly and as drastically as Trump has demanded.

Tillis’ stance could prevent Warsh from getting a vote by the Senate to confirm him as head of the central bank until he retires at the end of his term in January.