Washington DC - Senator Thom Tillis on Wednesday vowed to block President Donald Trump's nominee for chair of the Federal Reserve until he calls off his probe into incumbent Jerome Powell.

Tillis said during an interview with NBC News that he's willing to use his seat on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to block Kevin Warsh's nomination as long as the Justice Department continued its probe into Powell.

"Kevin's a perfect candidate, and that's why it's so frustrating that somebody in DOJ in February decided that they were going to maybe garner favor from someone in the White House by trying to invoke a criminal investigation against Jerome Powell," he said.

The DOJ opened an investigation into Powell, whose term as Fed Governor ends in May, alleging that he had given false or misleading statements to Congress about the renovation of the Federal Reserve's headquarters.

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Powell denied all wrongdoing in an official statement released by the Federal Reserve, calling the Trump administration's attacks on him "unprecedented." Last month, a judge blocked subpoenas into the probe due to "zero evidence."

Tillis also pointed out that the testimony the Department of Justice was relying on for its criminal probe was only two minutes long and seven Republican members have publicly declared that no crime was committed.

He alsuggested that the probe was simply put forward by a DOJ employee who "wanted to play gotcha" and curry favor with Trump.

The two-term North Carolina senator will not be seeking reelection, a factor he openly acknowledged.

"If I were running for re-election, I'd probably use a few different words, try to communicate the same thing... But I just don't have to deal with that filter," he told NBC.

It is unlikely that Warsh can be successfully confirmed without Tillis' support.