The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh to a 14-year term as Federal Reserve Governor, marking an important step toward Trump’s nominee succeeding Jerome Powell as the US central bank’s next Chair.
Warsh’s nomination was advanced in a 51-45 vote, with Senator John Fetterman being the only Democrat to cross the aisle and vote with the Republican majority. Warsh’s term as Fed Governor will run until 2040.
Warsh is returning to the Fed after a five-year stint as a Governor that ended in 2011, spanning the global financial crisis. Since leaving the Fed, he has worked as a Hoover Institution fellow and an adviser for billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.
Warsh is taking the board seat held by Stephen Miran, a Trump adviser who was confirmed to the Fed last September to fill a vacancy created by an early resignation. Miran’s term technically ended in January, but he was allowed to remain on the board until his successor was confirmed. Miran previously chaired the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, and in an unusual move, took a leave of absence to serve on the Fed for a few months.
Since joining the Fed board last fall, Miran has dissented from every decision by the Fed’s interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. When the 12-member panel left rates stable in its three meetings so far this year, Miran called for rate cuts. When the panel had reduced rates for its final three meetings of 2025, Miran argued the cuts should’ve been larger.
Warsh has been a frequent critic of the Fed, questioning everything from the size of its balance sheet and its approach to regulating banks, to the ways it uses data and communicates to the public. Warsh has also signaled at times over the last year that he’s open to lowering interest rates, though in his prior run as a Fed Governor, he was known as more of a hawk, focused on inflation risks and wary of overly loose monetary policy.
President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for the Fed to lower interest rates, calling Powell a “moron” and a “stubborn mule” for not agreeing to aggressively slash rates. The Fed faces tough trade-offs in its rate-setting decisions: Lowering them can boost economic growth, but sometimes at the cost of causing inflation to heat up.
In confirmation hearings, Warsh promised to safeguard the Fed’s power to set interest rates independently. He said that Trump “never asked me to predetermine, fix or decide on any interest rate decision, nor would I ever do so.””I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” he said last month.
Warsh’s confirmation was clouded by uncertainty earlier this year, after Powell revealed that the Fed had received subpoenas as part of a criminal probe into his testimony to the Senate about a multibillion-dollar renovation to the central bank’s headquarters.
Powell argued the investigation was an attempt to intimidate him, which prosecutors deny. A judge quashed the subpoenas, finding they were intended to “harass” Powell into either lowering rates or resigning.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said last month that her office would close its probe. Pirro said the Fed’s Inspector General will look into the issue, and she will “not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”
Senate To Confirm Warsh As Fed Chair
The Senate is now expected to immediately move forward with the confirmation process for Warsh’s concurrent four-year term as Fed chair, and could approve him for the leadership post as soon as tomorrow.
Terms for Governors last 14 years, while the chair’s term goes for four years. Powell’s tenure as Chair ends on Friday.
As a member of the seven-person Fed board, Warsh will serve with two Governors who were nominated during Mr. Trump’s first term, plus three Biden nominees. Trump’s attempts to fire one of the Biden picks have been blocked in court so far and, at least for now, Powell will round out the board.
Powell has said that he will remain a rank-and-file member of the Fed’s Board of Governors until he’s confident the investigation is “well and truly over,” making him the first outgoing Fed chair in more than 75 years to stick around after his chairmanship is up.
Powell has not specified how long he will stay on the board. His term ends in January 2028. He has promised to keep what he said would be a “low profile.”
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