The United States Senate confirmed this Wednesday (05/13/2026) Kevin Warsh, nominated by President Donald Trump, as head of the Federal Reserve (Fed) for a four-year term.

Warsh inherits a central bank whose independence is under attack by the Executive and an economy in which inflation is at its highest level in the last three years.

The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Warsh, who, like Trump, has advocated for lower interest rates.

A native of New York state, the 56-year-old trained jurist prematurely left his first term on the board in 2011 after expressing differences over monetary policy.

Now he returns to direct the Federal Reserve for four years, charged, among other things, with combating inflation in the United States and guaranteeing maximum employment.

It does so at a time of unprecedented political pressure on the Fed’s independence.

Trump frequently criticized and insulted Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for the lack of rate cuts.

His administration also put Powell in the crosshairs of a criminal investigation and is still trying to remove another Fed governor, Lisa Cook.

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Warsh promised to preserve the Fed’s independence, saying he would “absolutely not” be the president’s puppet.

“I am honored that the president nominated me for the position and will be an independent player if my appointment as chairman of the Federal Reserve is confirmed,” he said.

Criticism of the Fed

Born in Albany, the capital of New York State, Warsh holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.

He is married to Jane Lauder, granddaughter of legendary cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder.

Warsh began his career at investment giant Morgan Stanley, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

He later joined the administration of then-US President George W. Bush, where he served as White House economic policy advisor from 2002 to 2006, before being nominated to the Federal Reserve Board.

Warsh served on the board during the global financial crisis and finally left in 2011 over disagreements over how the central bank should deal with it.

Since then he has worked on Wall Street and on the boards of various companies, including UPS courier.

“I saw the Fed and its people at their best, but I also witnessed an institution tempted to play a broader role in the economy and society,” Warsh said at his confirmation hearing.

That language fits with the arguments of Trump, whose administration has called for the Federal Reserve to stay within its scope and has argued that the central bank is experiencing a credibility crisis.

In his first stint at the Fed, Warsh was considered a “hawk,” that is, a monetary policymaker inclined to address the inflation side of the mandate, usually by raising interest rates.

In recent years it has changed its stance, aligning itself with Trump’s demands for lower interest rates, even though the US economy faces persistently high inflation since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Warsh attributes high inflation to “policy errors” by the Fed in 2021 and 2022.

He has called for a “regime change” in policymaking, including changing the data on which the Fed bases its decisions, removing forward-looking guidance from its communications and encouraging more vigorous discussions at meetings of its board of governors.

mg (afp, ap)