DOJ's Fed probe sparks GOP backlash: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we examine how some Republicans on Capitol Hill are showing more of a willingness to break with President Donald Trump and his administration. Plus, Ben Kamisar breaks down the big names among the new donors to Trump’s super PAC.

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— Adam Wollner

DOJ's Fed probe sparks GOP backlash

Several Republican members of Congress are speaking out against the Justice Department subpoenas of the Federal Reserve, warning that the probe could undermine the central bank’s independence, Megan Lebowitz and Frank Thorp V report.

In the Senate: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., vowed to block any Fed nominees “until this legal matter is fully resolved.”

“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” said Tillis, who is retiring at the end of his term, on X. “It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.

Moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she spoke with Fed Chair Jerome Powell today and that “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,” she said in a statement.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., was critical of Powell, but said he doesn’t believe the Fed chair is a criminal.

“I hope this criminal investigation can be put to rest quickly along with the remainder of Jerome Powell’s term,” Cramer said in a statement. “We need to restore confidence in the Fed.”

As members of the Senate Banking Committee, Tillis and Cramer vote on whether or not to advance Federal Reserve nominees to a full Senate vote. The committee consists of 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats, meaning that if one GOP senator sides with Democrats, they could effectively stall Trump’s nominees.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters: “I haven’t seen the case or whatever the allegations or charges are, but they better be real and they better be serious.”

In the House: Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill, R-Ark., defended Powell as “a person of the highest integrity” and warned that the subpoenas “could undermine this and future Administrations’ ability to make sound monetary policy decisions.”

What Trump is saying: President Donald Trump denied having any knowledge of the Justice Department’s investigation into the Federal Reserve.

“I don’t know anything about it, but he’s certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings,” Trump said of Powell in a brief phone interview with NBC News’ Garrett Haake last night.

GOP cracks: The Fed investigation marks the latest instance of some Republican lawmakers breaking with Trump and his administration on key issues in the new year.

Last week, five Senate Republicans provided the votes to advance a resolution that would block Trump from using military force against Venezuela without congressional approval. Trump placed “angry” calls to each of them, Julie Tsirkin reported over the weekend.

Other examples include:

• Republican congressional leaders have pushed back against Trump’s openness to using the military to acquire Greenland.
• The GOP-led Senate unanimously agreed to display a plaque honoring the police officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump has sought to rewrite the history of that day.
• 17 House Republicans sided with Democrats to resurrect Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.
• And a significant number of House Republicans also voted to override Trump’s vetoes of two GOP-sponsored bills, though they ultimately fell short of the two-thirds support needed.

➡️ Related: Fed’s fight with DOJ could hurt prospects for more interest rate cuts, by Allie Canal, Shannon Pettypiece and Steve Kopack

Meet the new Trump super PAC megadonors

By Ben Kamisar

A few wealthy donors took a step over the past year they hadn’t taken before: making major contributions to President Donald Trump’s super PAC.

More than a dozen donors who gave at least $1 million to the Trump-affiliated MAGA Inc. super PAC after the president’s 2024 election win hadn’t previously given federal political donations to anyone approaching even 10% of that size, according to an NBC News analysis of Federal Election Commission records. For some, it was their first time sending a disclosed donation to any Trump-aligned political group.

Those contributions came at a time when Trump’s super PAC wasn’t spending on elections, but as he was governing or preparing to take office in the year-plus after he won. And while Trump maintains a large and loyal base of longtime supporters and donors, some of the brand-new financial backers have specific business interests in front of the federal government, important contracts with federal agencies or companies in sectors that could face dramatic shifts due to federal policies. Others had relatives facing years in federal prison.

It’s unclear if those people or others gave to other political groups in 2025. While MAGA Inc. filed a new report early due to its involvement in a December special election, other super PACs don’t have to detail their donors from the second half of 2025 until Jan. 31. And nonprofits and other groups give donors other avenues to contribute undisclosed amounts of money, too.

The list of people who gave $1 million or more to Trump for the first time in 2025 or late 2024 also includes a handful of America’s most prominent business leaders, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Palantir CEO Alexander Karp, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Todd Boehly, who co-owns several of the world’s most popular sports teams.

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That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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