Trump to swear in Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair

Trump to swear in Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell looks at U.S. President Donald Trump holding a document during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building in Washington, D.C., 24 July, 2025.
Reuters

Kevin Warsh will be sworn in as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday as policymakers consider higher interest rates to tackle inflation linked to the Trump administration’s Iran policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump will swear in Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve at the White House on Friday, the Trump administration said on Thursday (21 May).

Warsh was confirmed to the role in a near party-line vote on 13 May. He succeeds Jerome Powell as chair of the central bank, although Powell’s separate term as a Fed governor runs until January 2028.

Warsh, 56, will serve a four-year term as chair and a 14-year term as a Fed governor. Trump selected him as a counterweight to further interest rate rises, while Warsh has long supported lower rates and reducing the Fed’s balance sheet.

Leadership change

Warsh will take office as fellow governors consider raising rates to curb inflation driven by Trump’s war on Iran. A majority of Fed policymakers at their 28–29 April meeting believed that some further policy tightening would likely become appropriate if inflation remained persistently above the central bank’s 2 per cent target, according to minutes released on Wednesday (20 May).

The incoming chair was previously passed over for the role in 2017 during Trump’s first term. He served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and was the youngest member of the board at 35 when he was first appointed during the George W. Bush administration.

Warsh is likely to face intense scrutiny as he takes charge of the central bank. Trump repeatedly clashed with Powell over interest rates, calling him “Too Late” and referring to him as a “jerk”.

Questions over independence

The Trump administration has openly suggested that the Fed should be less independent from the White House and align monetary policy more closely with the administration’s fiscal agenda. During confirmation hearings, Warsh embraced many of the same policies as Trump officials but said he would maintain the central bank’s independence.

Fed Governor Stephen Miran will leave his position on the board on or shortly before Warsh is sworn in. Miran had taken a leave of absence as chair of Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisers to fill a vacancy at the central bank.

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Miran remained in the role longer than expected while prosecutors investigated Powell and the Fed over the cost of renovating the central bank’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. Prosecutors dropped the inquiry in April, and Republican Senator Thom Tillis lifted his hold on Warsh’s nomination after previously delaying it in protest.

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