By Nick Timiraos

A federal judge denied the Justice Department's request to reconsider his decision to quash a pair of subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve, rejecting the government's arguments in a sharply worded six-page opinion.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the government neither offered new evidence nor identified any material error in his March ruling, which found that the subpoenas served as part of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell were improper.

Pirro had immediately promised to appeal the ruling and filed a motion asking Boasberg to reconsider last month. Prosecutors in her office argued Boasberg had applied the wrong legal standard by unduly limiting their authority to seek evidence of a crime, but Boasberg said Friday the government had ignored the thrust of his initial ruling: that the subpoena power didn't extend to investigating someone for an improper purpose.

Boasberg concluded in his original ruling that the purpose of the subpoenas was to pressure Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning, not to pursue a legitimate criminal investigation, after months of demands from President Trump for rate cuts.

The ruling clears the way for Pirro to appeal the decision to a higher court. But that appeal threatens to delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, the former Fed governor whom Trump nominated to replace Powell when his term expires next month. Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) has said he won't advance any Fed nomination while the probe continues, depriving Republicans of the votes needed to push Warsh through the Senate Banking Committee.

Write to Nick Timiraos at Nick.Timiraos@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2026 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT)