Kevin Warsh sworn in as Fed chair after 54-45 vote

Kevin Warsh took the oath of office on May 22, 2026, after a 54-45 Senate confirmation and unanimous selection by the Federal Open Market Committee. He assumes the chair as the Fed holds its policy rate at 3.50%–3.75% and inflation measures remain elevated.

President Donald Trump nominated Warsh on March 4, 2026. His term as chair runs through May 2030, and his seat on the Board of Governors extends to January 2040. The Senate’s 54-45 vote was the narrowest margin of approval for any Fed chair in U.S. history.

Warsh served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and was involved in the Fed’s response to the 2008 financial crisis, including the sale of Bear Stearns, the proceedings around Lehman Brothers and the rescue of AIG. After leaving the board he was a fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and later worked in private finance. Jerome Powell will remain on the Board of Governors after stepping down as chair.

Warsh has pledged to act as a “strictly independent” chair and has pushed back on repeated White House calls for lower borrowing costs. He supports reducing the Fed’s balance sheet, narrowing the central bank’s institutional mandate, and imposing tighter limits on public comments by officials about the likely path of rates.

Financial disclosure filings list stakes in the stablecoin project Basis and the crypto asset manager Bitwise, along with investments tied to artificial intelligence. He has described Bitcoin as too volatile to function as a medium of exchange.

U.S. producer prices rose 6% in April, a figure that has sharpened market attention on monetary policy. The Fed’s decision to pause rate increases has exposed divisions within the FOMC; Warsh’s first scheduled policy meeting will be watched for early signals on how he balances inflation risks and economic data.

Warsh will lead the Federal Reserve through debates over the pace of tightening or easing as new data arrive, and he will remain on the Board of Governors for more than a decade after his term as chair ends.