Senate Republicans have an increasingly clear message for the Trump administration: If the president wants a new Federal Reserve chair, federal prosecutors need to drop their investigation into Jerome Powell.

A movement that began with retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C, staking his last year in office on defending Fed independence, has been quietly gaining steam among fellow Republicans who want to install nominee Kevin Warsh as soon as possible. With Powell’s term as chair ending next month, GOP lawmakers are becoming more forthright in their opposition to the probe — even if Tillis is still the only one threatening a “no” vote.

“One thing all martyrs have in common: They’re dead,” Tillis said following Warsh’s Tuesday hearing, where Tillis showed up with props to make his case for DOJ butting out.

“If I’m able to do it and keep the outcome, why should we do anything more than the minimum number of members necessary to accomplish the goal?” Tillis said. “Why would we expose other people to the discourse?”

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro also doubled down Wednesday, telling reporters that her investigation into the Fed’s ongoing renovations — and Powell’s testimony on them — “continues.” President Donald Trump himself had told CNBC Tuesday that officials “have to find out” if Powell “is taking money.” Powell has said he will stay past the end of his term as chair if senators haven’t confirmed Warsh.

Amid the stalemate, Tillis’ GOP colleagues are increasingly signaling their support for an offramp — “any offramp,” per Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-La. — that might allow them to confirm Warsh (not to mention keep investors calm) before Powell’s term as chair ends next month. Publicly and privately, they’re hitting one thing hard: For Warsh to move into the chair position, the Justice Department probe has to go.

“We don’t want, obviously, cost overruns and so on and so forth — and so I think that [oversight] is going to continue with the [inspector general],” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told Semafor. “But at least as far as the issue with Powell, I think it’d be good if we could get that wrapped up, from the standpoint of getting Warsh in there and moving on.”

Hoeven, who doesn’t serve on the Senate Banking Committee, isn’t making that case directly to administration officials. Others are.

“I’d like to see the president get his chairman; I think the best way to do that is finding an off-ramp that takes care of the issue and we get rid of the criminal investigation and we perhaps offer an alternative” like a committee investigation, said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who told Semafor that he’s spoken to “people within the administration” who “are involved in the nomination process.”

His message: “This needs to be resolved in order to move this nomination forward” and Congress will “assist wherever we can.”

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said it “continues to work with the Senate to ensure his swift confirmation.”