NPR News: 03-13-2026 6PM EDT

A federal judge has blocked a criminal investigation of the Federal Reserve by the Justice Department, calling it an improper campaign of harassment. The ruling, unsealed Wednesday, is the centerpiece of a news roundup that also covers an Israeli airstrike in central Tehran, a major Senate housing bill, personnel changes at the Kennedy Center, and a new bird flu outbreak among elephant seals in California.

Judge Blocks Justice Department Probe of the Fed

The Justice Department subpoenaed the Federal Reserve in January, ostensibly to investigate cost overruns on the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters. But U.S. District Judge James Bosberg ruled that this was a "mere pretext." In his newly unsealed opinion, Bosberg wrote that the government offered no evidence that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had committed any crime — other than "displeasing the President by not moving more aggressively to lower interest rates." The judge found "abundant evidence" that the real purpose of the criminal probe was to harass and pressure Powell.

The case has become a direct test of the Federal Reserve’s ability to set interest rates without political interference from the White House. Republican Senator Tom Tillis, who has defended the Fed, said the ruling "confirms how weak and frivolous the government's investigation was." NPR’s Scott Horsley reported the story from Washington.