Kevin Warsh cleared a key Senate vote on Tuesday, winning confirmation to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors by a 51-45 margin and setting up a separate vote to become chair of the central bank.
The vote was nearly uniform across party lines, with just one Democrat breaking ranks — Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania cast the sole crossover vote in support of Trump's nominee, according to CNBC. The vote on Warsh's chairmanship nomination was expected later this week, according to CBS News.
At 56, Warsh returns to the Fed after a previous stint on the Board of Governors that spanned 2006 through 2011; his new governorship carries a term extending to 2040. The seat he now occupies had been held by Stephen Miran, a Trump adviser who stepped in after Adriana Kugler left the board early and who was permitted to stay on until a permanent replacement was confirmed.
A successful chairmanship vote would put Warsh at the helm of the central bank in place of Powell, whose tenure as chair expires Friday. Rather than departing entirely, Powell has indicated he intends to hold onto his governor's seat — which runs through January 2028 — for as long as he deems necessary given ongoing legal pressure on the institution, a step that would make him the first departing Fed chair to do so in over seven decades.
Getting to Tuesday's confirmation required clearing a significant obstacle: a criminal investigation tied to a renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters had thrown the nomination process into doubt. Among those holding up the process was Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who made his support for moving Fed nominees contingent on the probe being closed. That condition was met when the U.S. attorney's office for the District announced it was shutting down the investigation. The Banking Committee advanced Warsh's nomination on a party-line vote of 13-11 — the first time a Fed chair nominee had cleared the committee along strictly partisan lines.
The central bank Warsh is poised to lead is under considerable strain on the policy front. Inflationary pressures — driven by the conflict in Iran and tariffs the Trump administration has levied — have carried price levels to their steepest point in roughly three years, even as unemployment has held relatively steady. Options markets currently reflect a meaningful probability that the Fed's next move will be a rate increase, not a decrease.
Among Warsh's most prominent public stances has been his push for what he calls "regime change" at the Fed, along with periodic suggestions that rates could be reduced. At his Senate confirmation hearing, he sought to reassure lawmakers about his independence, stating that the president had not sought any commitment from him on rate-setting and that he would exercise his own judgment on monetary policy decisions if he takes the chair's role.
Separately, efforts by the Trump administration to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook — among the Biden-appointed governors remaining on the board — have so far been turned back by the courts, with the Supreme Court yet to weigh in.