Kevin Warsh is one step closer to top job at the Fed after Trump's pick
approved by Senate committee
[April 30, 2026]
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Banking Committee voted on party lines
Wednesday to approve Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal
Reserve to replace Jerome Powell, a longtime target of President Donald
Trump’s insults for not cutting borrowing costs as far as the president
wanted.
The vote was 13-11, with all Republican senators voting in favor and
Democrats opposed.
Warsh is a former top Fed official but has also been a sharp critic of
the institution and Powell’s leadership. He has called the inflation
spike to 9.1% in 2022 the central bank’s biggest policy mistake in four
decades. A vote on his nomination probably won’t take place until next
month, but he could be confirmed by the time Powell’s term as chair ends
May 15.
The Senate Banking vote is the first of two key events surrounding the
future of the Fed’s leadership. Also Wednesday, Powell is presiding over
what will probably be his last meeting of the Fed’s interest
rate-setting committee. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Powell
may indicate whether he will remain as a member of the central bank’s
board of governors after his term as chair ends.
It would be unusual for Powell to stay, but doing so would deprive the
Trump administration of an opportunity to appoint a new member to the
board. Powell may choose to stay if he sees it as necessary to protect
the Fed’s independence, which has become part of his legacy as its
leader.
Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the committee,
said Warsh is “battle tested” and added that, "It is incredibly
important that we break the bind of Bidenomics on households across this
nation.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, criticized the
banking panel for voting on Warsh's nomination. Doing so “will bring the
president one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize
control of the Fed and artificially juice the economy,” she said, citing
Trump's effort to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and investigate Powell.
The Fed on Wednesday is widely expected to leave its key rate unchanged
at about 3.6% for its third straight meeting, defying Trump’s calls for
lower rates.
Warsh has called for “regime change” at the Fed and could alter many of
its practices, including the economics models it focuses on, how it
communicates with the public, and how large its bondholdings will be in
the long run.
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Kevin Warsh testifies during his nomination hearing to be a member
and chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before the
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill,
in Washington Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Those changes could affect financial markets, but otherwise won’t
necessarily be visible to the general public. But Warsh has also
advocated for additional interest rate cuts, which could potentially
lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans.
He will face barriers to implementing those cuts anytime soon,
however, largely because the Iran war has caused a spike in gas
prices, pushing inflation to a two-year high of 3.3%.
The Fed typically keeps rates elevated, or even raises them, to
combat worsening inflation.
Most of the other 11 members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee
have indicated they would prefer to wait and evaluate where
inflation and the economy are headed before making any changes to
rates. It could take time for Warsh to build up enough influence to
push for rapid rate cuts. He will also replace Stephen Miran, a
member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who was appointed by
Trump last September and is the most consistent advocate for rate
reductions at the central bank.
Warsh also faces questions about his independence from the White
House, a key issue that dogged him during a Senate Banking hearing
last week. On Wednesday, Warren said, “Mr. Warsh is a Trump sock
puppet who is so cowed by the president that he could not even say
that Trump lost the 2020 election.”
Last December, Trump called for much lower interest rates in a
social media post, and added that “anyone who does not agree with me
will never be Fed chair!” And just last week he told Fox Business
that he expects rates to head lower, “when Kevin gets in.”
Warsh denied at his hearing, however, that Trump had ever pressured
him directly to cut rates.
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