Jessica Mendoza

That's already started to play out.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski echoed Tillis' call to block nominations for Powell's successor.

She called the investigation, quote, nothing more than an attempt at coercion.

Even if a nominee did make it to the Senate floor, it would only require a handful of Republicans to block a confirmation.

And practically speaking, what's the upshot of that if a new Fed chair isn't confirmed?

Does Powell continue to serve or what happens?

This morning, before he departed from Michigan to give a speech on the economy, Trump responded to questions about the investigation.

Hanging over all this is the question of whether the Federal Reserve will continue to be able to do what it's supposed to do, make big, economy-impacting decisions without political pressure.

Nick says that could be in the hands of the next Fed chair.

I feel like you've been asked this question a lot in the last year, Nick, but could this be a step toward the end of independence for the Fed?

That's all for today, Tuesday, January 13th.

The Journal is a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal.

Additional reporting in this episode by C. Ryan Barber, Josh Dossey, Sadie German, Meredith McGraw, and Brian Schwartz.

Thanks for listening.

See you tomorrow.

Hey, Jess.

Hey, Ryan.

How's it going?

Not bad.

So it's Monday, December 29th.