The Senate Banking Committee voted along party lines to send Kevin Warsh's nomination to the full GOP-controlled Senate
The Senate Banking Committee voted Wednesday to advance Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, sending President Donald Trump's pick to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.
Republican and Democratic committee members split entirely on their votes, with Warsh drawing support from all 13 GOP members and opposition from all 11 Democrats.
Before the vote, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the committee's top Democrat, argued that Warsh would give in to pressure from the White House. "A vote today by this committee to advance Mr. Warsh will bring the president one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize control of the Fed and to artificially juice the economy," she said, according to The New York Times.
Warsh's path to the committee vote had faced a significant obstacle. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis had pledged to block Warsh's nomination unless the Department of Justice dropped a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The probe was purportedly focused on cost overruns tied to a multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters. But Powell, in a statement disclosing the investigation in January, said the administration was targeting him because of the Fed's interest rate decisions.
Even after a federal judge blocked grand jury subpoenas from being issued, Trump continued to back the investigation, which was being run by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. As recently as last Wednesday, Pirro was publicly committed to pursuing an appeal, only to reverse course two days later and announce the probe was being closed. With that obstacle removed, Tillis withdrew his objection to Warsh's nomination.
The committee action Wednesday unfolded just ahead of the Fed's scheduled interest rate announcement, which could mark one of Powell's final acts as chair. Persistent inflation and a labor market that has remained largely resilient have kept the Fed from moving aggressively on rate cuts — a restraint that Trump has repeatedly criticized and that has fueled an ongoing clash between the president and Powell.
