A U.S. Senate committee voted 13-11 along party lines Wednesday to advance Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, to a full Senate confirmation vote. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis cast the deciding vote after withholding his support for weeks over a separate concern — a Justice Department investigation he called "bogus" targeting current Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Tillis said he moved forward after the Trump administration announced Friday it would drop the investigation into Powell. "I want to thank the Department of Justice for the assurances that they gave me," Tillis said following the committee's brief morning session, which lasted just under 15 minutes. "The fact of the matter is, this was based on two minutes of testimony."

The nomination comes as American consumers are facing rising costs, particularly at the gas pump, driven in part by disruptions to worldwide energy supplies stemming from the U.S.-Iran conflict. The Federal Reserve sets the nation's monetary policy, including benchmark interest rates that influence borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business credit — decisions that reach into household budgets across Montana.

Warsh's nomination now moves to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. If confirmed, he would succeed Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve.