Kevin Warsh wins Senate confirmation as Fed chair amid inflation pressure

Kevin Warsh was confirmed Wednesday as the next Federal Reserve chair, putting a longtime critic of the central bank’s crisis era policies in charge as President Donald Trump pushes for lower interest rates and inflation data complicates the case for cuts.

The Senate voted 54 to 45 to confirm Warsh, largely along party lines, with Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman joining Republicans in support. The vote marked the narrowest confirmation margin ever for a Fed chair, reflecting the political pressure surrounding the central bank’s next phase.

Warsh will succeed Jerome Powell, whose term as chair ends Friday. He is expected to lead his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 16 and 17, when policymakers will face renewed debate over whether the Fed can cut rates while inflation remains elevated.

Inflation data this week showed price pressures moving further from the Fed’s 2% target. April producer prices rose 6% from a year earlier, while consumer price data also showed the strongest increase in three years, forcing markets to scale back expectations for rate cuts and price in some risk of another increase later this year.

Warsh, 56, previously served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, during the financial crisis and the Fed’s early years of large scale asset purchases. He later became a critic of the central bank’s expanded balance sheet and last year called for regime change at the Fed during a CNBC interview.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell for keeping monetary policy too tight and has made clear he wants lower rates. Warsh has denied making any policy commitments, though his nomination has raised questions among Democrats about whether the Fed will maintain its independence under renewed White House pressure.

Rep. French Hill praised Warsh’s confirmation, saying the incoming Fed chair had emphasized affordability and price stability as central economic priorities. Hill said Warsh’s commitment to disciplined monetary policy would help restore confidence and support long term prosperity.

Warsh will also take Stephen Miran’s seat on the Fed board. Miran, a Trump adviser confirmed in September 2025, had dissented repeatedly from recent Fed decisions, favoring larger or more frequent rate cuts as the committee kept policy tighter than some Trump aligned officials wanted.

The confirmation gives Trump a Fed chair more aligned with his preference for lower rates, but Warsh’s first test may be whether he can deliver that shift without unsettling markets already worried about inflation.