After the Trump administration announced a federal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska spoke out on social media to criticize their decision.
The Department of Justice subpoenaed the Federal Reserve on Friday in connection with a criminal inquiry into Powell’s congressional testimony about cost overruns on a multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Powell described the investigation as a politically motivated effort to pressure him into cutting interest rates.
Murkowski wrote on social media that after speaking with Powell, she believes “it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion. If the Department of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based on project cost overruns—which are not unusual—then Congress needs to investigate the Department of Justice.”
After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion. If the Department of Justice believes an investigation into Chair Powell is warranted based on project cost overruns—which are not…
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) January 12, 2026
She also reiterated that the importance of the Federal Reserve’s independence from the government and warned that “the stakes are too high to look the other way.” Murkowski argued that if the Department of Justice truly believed the cost overruns justified a criminal probe, Congress should investigate the DOJ itself rather than undermine an institution central to the nation’s economic stability.
Her remarks come as concern about the investigation spans party lines. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, similarly backed blocking Trump’s future Federal Reserve nominations until the matter is resolved.
While Murkowski tends to align herself with Republican leadership on most issues, this isn’t the first time she has challenged the party. In the past, she has gone against the party by voting to impeach Trump after the January 6 riots at the Capitol, opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in 2018 by Trump, and supported Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination by Biden.
Former Fed chairs and former Treasury secretaries from both political parties issued a joint statement condemning the DOJ’s actions as the “reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell” and asserting that such prosecutions have no place in the United States, where central bank independence is considered foundational to maintaining price stability and financial credibility.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Powell himself stated that “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President. This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”
