Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair Amid Economic Challenges

"...fraught moment for the global economy..."

"...unusually difficult time for the independent agency..."

"...potentially creating a competing power center..."

"...fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or seek to cut rates to appease Trump..."

"...derided him as a 'sock puppet' for Trump..."

"...denied at the hearing that Trump had pressured him to reduce the Fed’s key rate..."

"...highly critical of the Fed’s recent track record..."

"...called for 'regime change'..."

"...provided only broad outlines of what that change would involve..."

"...called for limiting the Fed’s communications..."

"...sharp shift after decades of increasing transparency..."

"...argued that some of its communications tools... have made it harder for officials to switch gears..."

"...condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his extensive wealth..."

"...refuses to provide transparency to the American people about who he is entangled with..."

"...faces difficult economic conditions..."

"...grappling with how to respond to the 50% spike in gas prices from the Iran war..."

"...inflation reached 3.8% in April..."

"...typically looks past temporary price increases that stem from supply disruptions..."

"...prices typically level off — or even fall back down — once the supply is restored..."

"...followed that approach after the coronavirus pandemic snarled global supply chains..."

"...inflation turned out to last longer than expected..."

"...acknowledged they waited too long to raise rates..."

"...inflation surged to 9.1% by June 2022..."

"...kept rates unchanged for three straight meetings..."

"...evaluates the impact of the gas price spike..."

"...three members of the committee objected to language that suggested its next move would be a rate cut..."

"...preferred more neutral language that would allow for a hike..."

"...dissents as a warning shot to Warsh that he won’t be able to easily engineer rate reductions..."

"...dissented in favor of a rate cut..."

"...as he has at every meeting since Trump appointed him to the Fed’s board last September..."

"...serving until a replacement is named..."

"...Powell, meanwhile, said at a news conference April 29 that he would remain as a Fed governor until the Justice Department closes its investigation into the Fed’s building project..."

"...first time a chair may stay on the board for an extended period since 1948..."

"...term as a governor lasts until January 2028..."

"...U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has dropped the government’s probe..."

"...said it could be reopened if the Fed’s inspector general... finds evidence of criminal activity..."