WASHINGTON — Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor with a long career on Wall Street, was tapped
Warsh will testify before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday morning for his confirmation hearing to become Fed chair amid an ongoing and politically charged investigation into current Chair Jerome Powell.
That investigation has made Warsh's confirmation a non-starter — for the moment at least — with at least one Republican senator on the committee, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, promising to oppose Warsh's nomination until the investigation concludes.
The DOJ probe and persistent pressure from President Donald Trump on Powell and the rest of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee to lower rates, has called into question how independently future Trump appointees would make decisions about monetary policy. It's likely to be one of the main lines of attack from Democratic senators, and something that Republicans will want to get Warsh on the record before the committee attempts to vote.
While Tillis' opposition to Warsh's nomination makes this confirmation hearing largely moot, Warsh still has a viable path to confirmation if the Department of Justice drops its investigation — or, failing that, after Tillis leaves Congress in January 2027.
Warsh has advocated in the past for shrinking the Fed's balance sheet and pulling back its role in markets. Warsh has also accused the Fed in the past of "mission creep."
