Kevin Warsh has been sworn in as the new Chair of the United States Federal Reserve Board of Governors, succeeding Jerome Powell, who has held the position since 2018.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas swore Warsh in during the ceremony at the White House.

Warsh took the oath of office, following a contentious nomination period, with the Senate voting along party lines on both his confirmation to the Board of Governors and as Chairman. Only Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman broke with his Democratic colleagues to advance his nomination. Warsh was confirmed last week by the Senate for a four-year term as Fed chair, largely along party lines.

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, ahead of a vote by the full Senate, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Warsh of being a “sock puppet” for Trump. Warsh denied the allegations and claimed that he would remain independent in his monetary policy decisions.

When Joe Biden was President, Warsh advocated against cutting interest rates, but changed his tune when Trump took office. In December 2025, Trump said that he would only appoint someone to lead the central bank who agreed with him on cutting rates.

Pressure from the White House to cut rates comes amid rising inflation in the US economy. Consumer prices jumped 0.6 percent in April after a 0.9 percent rise in March, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index report released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month.On an annual basis, prices were also higher, rising 3.8 percent compared with the same month in 2025, marking the largest increase in three years. The largest surge has been in energy prices, which have jumped 17.9 percent over the last year.

US consumers are feeling the strain at the pump. The average price for a gallon of petrol (3.78 litres) is $4.56, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That is up from $2.98 per gallon on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran.

Surging prices could put pressure on the central bank not to cut rates. Analysts from JPMorgan Chase forecasted last month that rates will likely remain unchanged until mid-2027 and anticipate that, at that time, rates could rise rather than be cut.

The central bank said in the newly released minutes of its April policy meeting that with inflation having run significantly above 2 percent over the past five years, with further increases in inflation likely to occur as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, and with emergent price pressures in a few categories that appeared unrelated to tariffs or energy prices, the staff viewed the possibility that inflation would be more persistent than anticipated as a salient risk.

CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which tracks the likelihood of monetary policy decisions, says there is a 97 percent chance that rates will remain unchanged at the next policy meeting.

Regardless, Warsh cannot unilaterally make policy decisions. He is one of 12 voting members.

Warsh “Not Naive” About Challenges Facing U.S Economy

Warsh, after he was sworn in, said he was “not naive” about the challenges facing the U.S economy and that inflation can be lower and growth strong.

Warsh, 56, will lead the central bank at a time when its independence has come under scrutiny amid political pressure on the historically nonpartisan institution. U.S President Donald Trump, aware of that critique, said in his opening remarks said, downplayed scrutiny of Warsh’s tenure.

“I want Kevin to be totally independent and do a great job. Don’t look at me and don’t look at anybody. Just do your own job.”
Donald Trump

Trump said, “He’s got abilities that very few people have,” predicting Warsh would be remembered as one of the best Chairs in Fed history.

“Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, it’s a good thing. You want to stop inflation, but you don’t want to stop greatness. They’ll be listening to Kevin all the way. Even if they’re of a somewhat different persuasion than Kevin.”
Donald Trump

The U.S President soured on Warsh’s predecessor; Powell, over the Fed’s refusal to zero out interest rates and stimulate the economy despite it already performing well under his leadership.

Warsh will serve on the Fed board with Powell, who is taking the unusual step of remaining at the central bank after the end of his term as Chair. Powell, 72, said in April that he had planned to retire, but he felt it necessary to remain at the Fed until he was confident the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into himself and the bank was “well and truly over.”

The first policy meeting Warsh will lead will be on June 16-17.