Kevin Warsh confirmed for Fed board, advanced for chairman post

CQ-Roll Call on May 12, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Kevin Warsh, the nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, was confirmed Tuesday for a 14-year term on the board and moved a step closer to a four-year term as chairman after a procedural vote.

The Senate voted 51-45 to put Warsh on the board and by the same margin to limit debate on his nomination to be chairman, bringing his confirmation process almost to a conclusion. The Senate is expected to confirm him as chairman this week to succeed Jerome Powell, whose term ends Friday.

Warsh arrives at the Fed as inflation is heating up. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, accelerating from an annual 3.3% pace in March, driven largely by energy prices.

President Donald Trump has long pressured the central bank to lower interest rates despite inflation being above the Fed’s 2% target level. Democrats warn that Warsh could bow to presidential pressure.

Powell has resisted Trump’s effort since December, the last time the Fed cut rates. The Justice Department also opened an investigation into Powell over the cost of renovations at the Fed, a move that at least one Republican senator, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, saw as an effort to intimidate the Fed.

But Tillis ended his pledge to block Fed nominees when the department dropped the investigation, saying he was satisfied that the threat to the central bank’s independence had been removed. Democrats and Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney who had been investigating the Fed, noted it could be reopened.

Powell has said he will stay on the board because of uncertainty over whether the Justice Department could reopen the investigation. His term ends in 2028. Warsh’s term is effective from Feb. 1, 2026. He replaces Stephen Miran.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined the Republican majority on both the board confirmation and cloture votes.

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