The Department of Justice has announced it is dropping a widely unpopular investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a social media post Friday morning that she had directed her office to end the criminal probe, despite having previously said her office would appeal a federal judge’s ruling quashing the subpoenas.

“The [Inspector General] has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers,” wrote Pirro. “I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas.”

“Note well, however,” added Pirro, “that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled that grand jury subpoenas issued to the central bank and Powell in connection with renovation cost overruns of the Fed’s headquarters were primarily, “if not solely,” designed to pressure Powell into resigning or lowering interest rates — as frequently demanded of the Fed chief by President Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General commented to Scotsman Guide that an evaluation of the renovation project, begun last July by the internal oversight division, is ongoing.

“This assessment includes our independent analysis of the project’s substantial cost increases and overruns,” said the spokesperson. “We are actively working to complete our review, and look forward to making the results available to the public and Congress upon completion.”

The Fed OIG declined to provide further comment.

The DOJ investigation has been a roadblock in the Senate confirmation process of Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and Trump’s choice to replace Powell as chair when his term expires in mid-May.

A bipartisan contingent of the Senate Banking Committee agrees that Powell committed no crimes when he testified before the committee last summer concerning the office renovation project.

In a Senate hearing Tuesday, Warsh testified to the committee that Trump has never asked him to lower interest rates or even commit to lowering rates as a condition of his nomination to replace Powell as Fed chair.

Several senators on the banking committee, including Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican not seeking reelection, have staunchly refused to advance Warsh’s nomination, despite their endorsement of Warsh, until the investigation into Powell is fully resolved.

Tillis’ office did not return a request for comment by the time of publication regarding whether Pirro’s social media announcement changes the senator’s position.

Trump vowed in a Fox Business interview less than two weeks ago that he would not drop the Powell probe, which he also described as “more than a criminal probe” and a “probe on competence.”

“Whether it’s incompetence, corruption, or both, I think you have to find out. I really do. I think you have to find out,” said Trump, who also used the interview to threaten firing Powell if he does not resign his governorship, which ends in 2028, when his role as chair ends.

While the closure of the federal inquiry into Powell and the Federal Reserve could clear the way for Warsh’s nomination, Powell’s next moves remain uncertain. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.

Trump has recently mulled the option of probing Fed headquarters renovation costs through alternative channels, such as congressional or inspector general investigations, according to reporting by Semafor. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, privately floated the idea of a Senate Banking Committee investigation into the cost overruns, according to Semafor.