President Donald Trump on Friday named Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as the chair of the Federal Reserve, after a months-long feud between the commander in chief and the central bank.
It’s the latest development in Trump’s attempts to exert more control after months of criticism toward Powell, who Trump nominated in 2017, for not lowering interest rates fast enough.
So, who is Kevin Warsh and what happens next for the Fed?
Kevin Warsh in national spotlight
Trump shared on Truth Social early Friday that he was nominating Kevin Walsh to be the chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve.
“Kevin currently serves as the Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, and Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business,” Trump said in his post.
Warsh, 55, is a graduate of Stanford University and has his law degree from Harvard Law School. Trump said he has conducted “extensive research” in the economics and finance fields.
He also noted that Warsh issued an independent report to the Bank of England proposing reforms in monetary policy and Parliament adopted the recommendations.
“Kevin Warsh became the youngest Fed Governor, ever, at 35, and serves as a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 until 2011, as the Federal Reserve’s Representative to the Group of Twenty (G-20), and as the Board’s Emissary to the Emerging and Advanced Economies in Asia,” Trump said.
Trump also shared that Warsh served as a special assistant to the president on economic policy, executive secretary of the White House National Economic Council before being appointed to the board.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down,” Trump said. “Congratulations Kevin!”
CNBC noted that Trump’s pick of Warsh likely won’t impact financial markets because of his past Fed experience and Wall Street believing he won’t always do Trump’s bidding.
David Bahnsen told the outlet that Warsh has respect and credibility, but that there was no person Trump would nominate that wouldn’t cut rates in the short term. Still, Bahnsen believes in the long term, Warsh will be a “credible candidate.”
Warsh will have to be confirmed by the Senate and if approved, he will take over the Fed in May, when Powell’s term ends.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office Friday, Trump said “no” he didn’t ask Warsh if he would cut interest rates.
“I want to keep him nice and pure. But he certainly wants to cut rates. I have been watching him for a long time,” Trump said.
Trump’s issue with Powell
Trump has been weighing whether or not to fire Powell after months of being unhappy with his performance leading the central bank.
Earlier this month federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Powell over his testimony on the Fed’s ongoing renovation of its headquarters. Powell acknowledged that the Department of Justice issued subpoenas after his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last year.
Powell argued that the subpoena was less about the renovation to the buildings in Washington, D.C., and instead a consequence of not lowering interest rates to make the president happy.
Last summer, Trump was weighing if he should remove Powell and asked House Republicans what they thought. If he had tried, it would have broken long-standing norms around the independence of the Fed.
Powell has criticized Trump’s sweeping tariff agenda, saying it would cause uncertainty to the economy and increase inflation. He said last year that it was unlikely that there’d be any economic progress for the rest of 2025.
Trump nominated Powell to lead the Fed in late 2017 during his first term. Powell was critiqued for not raising interest rates fast enough as inflation soared during the early years of the Biden administration.
But while other presidents in the past have expressed frustration with the Fed chair, none have gone as far as to fire the leading central banker.
Powell’s term as chair ends in May and Warsh will take over as chair of the Federal Reserve if approved.