In a close vote, members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee have given their approval to the nomination of Kevin Warsh to become the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
The 13 to 11 vote was along party lines, with all the Republican members voting in favor of Warsh and the Democrats opposed.
The 56-year-old Warsh, who previously served for five years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, will, if ultimately approved by the full Senate, replace James Powell, who has led the Fed for the last eight years.
Powell and President Trump have frequently been in conflict, with Trump repeatedly criticizing the Federal Reserve’s higher interest rates policies, which he said have been detrimental to the economy.
Last year the President was reported to have been the inspiration behind a move by the Department of Justice to subpoena Powell due to the increasingly expensive $2.5 billion renovation of the Eccles Building, which houses the main offices of the Fed’s Board of Governors.
Powell, in turn, said a possible criminal prosecution had nothing to do with the Eccles work but was entirely a “consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced that it was dropping its investigation of Powell.
In his testimony before the Banking Committee, Warsh declared that he would not be influenced by Trump when it came to setting interest rates. “I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” he stated.
Reflecting on his earlier service for the Fed, Warsh remarked: “The President never once asked me to commit to any particular interest rate decision, period, and nor would I ever agree to do so if he had, but he never did.”
Warsh also revealed that he is an Artificial Intelligence fan: “AI is a testament to American ingenuity. The United States is the best-positioned country in the world to take advantage of it so that the U.S. economy and U.S. workers benefit from it.”
Warsh has previously stated his belief that because AI is stimulating the national economy, that should make it all the easier to lower interest rates without a fear of stoking inflation.
Walsh is expected to be confirmed in the full Senate where the Republicans currently have a 53-seat majority to the Democrats’ 47.
April 30, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Federal Reserve
