What you need to know about Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s pick for Fed Chair
Kevin Warsh is a former Federal Reserve Board member selected by President Donald Trump to lead the Federal Reserve Board.
The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh next week, potentially putting the Fed a few steps closer to finding a new chairman.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), said Warsh would likely take up the role “within the next few weeks.” Scott’s comments came as his colleague on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), vowed to hold off on confirmation to the Fed until the Justice Department concludes its ongoing investigation into the current central bank chairman, Jerome Powell.
Scott said in an April 14 interview with FOX Business: “I’m very confident that the Department of Justice will wrap this up quickly. Kevin Warsh will take over in the next few weeks.”
He said Warsh will join lawmakers in a hearing next week to discuss the economy, price stability, inflation and the independence of the Federal Reserve, adding that the committee will vote on Warsh’s confirmation “at a later date.”
Previous plans to hold Warsh’s hearing this week were postponed due to administrative delays. Warsh then submitted the required financial disclosures to the Senate. They reveal that he is much richer than the most recent Federal Reserve chair, with assets valued at well over $100 million, plus additional assets linked to his wife Jane Lauder, with an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion by Forbes magazine.
By comparison, Powell’s 2025 financial disclosures show his assets are worth up to $75 million. In 2021, Forbes magazine estimated that former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s net worth was approximately $20 million.
With Powell’s term as chairman set to end on May 15, the clock is ticking for Warsh’s confirmation. Powell said he would continue as speaker pro tempore unless the Senate confirms a new speaker by then.
“That’s what the law requires,” Powell told reporters on March 18. “That’s what we’ve done several times before, myself included, and that’s what we’re going to do in this situation.”
Warsh, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to head the central bank, served on the Fed’s board from 2006 to 2011. If confirmed, he would return as Fed chairman at a time when President Trump has repeatedly pressured the Federal Open Market Committee to cut interest rates and clashed with Powell over monetary policy.
Asked by reporters in January whether Warsh had committed to cutting interest rates as Fed chairman, Trump said: “No, but we’re talking about it.” “I don’t want to ask him that question. I think it’s inappropriate. It’s probably forgivable, but I want to keep it nice and pure. But I’m sure he wants a rate cut. I’ve been watching him for a long time.”
Contact Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her at X @rachelbarber_
