President Donald Trump on Friday held a swearing-in ceremony for new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, a former central bank official-turned-critic and aide to former President George W. Bush with familial ties to a longtime billionaire Republican donor.
Warsh has claimed the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy “has been broken for quite a long time.”
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Warsh, 55, earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1995 before becoming a banker at Morgan Stanley, where he later served as vice president and executive director before joining the Bush administration in 2002 as executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
Bush nominated Warsh to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in 2006, with Warsh becoming the youngest person ever to join the central bank at 35.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Warsh aided in the government’s bailout of insurer AIG and assisted in JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns, an 85-year-old brokerage that collapsed as the investment banking industry failed.
Warsh criticized the Fed’s decision to quickly lower interest rates during the financial crisis, arguing the cuts would only spur inflation, and was the only Fed official to argue against the central bank’s plan in 2011 to buy $600 billion in Treasury securities.
He joined the right-leaning Hoover Institution think tank after resigning from the Fed in 2011, and Warsh was among the finalists before Trump nominated Jerome Powell to succeed Janet Yellen as Fed chair in 2017.
Warsh is a critic of Powell, telling CNBC last year he supported a “regime change” at the Fed, claiming its policy has been “broken for quite a long time” and arguing Trump was “right to be frustrated” with Powell’s refusal to lower interest rates more quickly.
Warsh was sworn in as Fed chair during a White House ceremony on Friday, launching Warsh’s four-year term leading the Federal Reserve, succeeding Powell, whose term ended earlier this month. Warsh was confirmed to a 14-year term as a Fed governor last week. His first Federal Open Market Committee meeting as Fed chair, during which governors decide whether or not to adjust interest rates, will take place June 16-17.
One key GOP lawmaker, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, said he would block any Fed nominees unless the Justice Department resolved its probe into Powell and the central bank’s renovation of its Washington building. Tillis said Warsh is a “qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy,” but told reporters: “The Fed noms are not going to change until the investigation and potential indictment of Chair Powell is completed … DOJ’s got to decide when I lift those holds. It gets lifted the day that case is adjudicated or withdrawn.” Tillis pulled his opposition last month after Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced the DOJ would close its investigation.
In 2002, Warsh married billionaire Jane Lauder, granddaughter of Estée Lauder with a net worth of $2.5 billion. Warsh’s father-in-law is billionaire Ronald Lauder, who was a classmate of Trump’s in the 1960s and later donated to Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 (he’s worth $4.9 billion as of Wednesday). Ronald Lauder is reportedly credited with spurring Trump’s interest in the U.S. buying Greenland.
Warsh, who disclosed his finances last month, reported investments and holdings worth roughly $131 million to $209 million, in addition to holdings from his billionaire wife. Warsh’s assets would exceed those reported by Powell, who disclosed wealth up to $75 million and was believed to be the richest person to be Fed chair since at least 1948.
Since departing the Fed in 2011, Warsh has worked as a partner at Duquesne Family Office, an investment firm launched by Stanley Druckenmiller to manage his personal wealth. Druckenmiller, who worked as a hedge fund manager alongside billionaire George Soros, has a net worth estimated at $7.8 billion as of Wednesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who previously served as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, said Warsh is a “fantastic choice to lead the world’s most important central bank at this crucial time.” Brookings senior fellow Robin Brooks wrote on X that Warsh is a “really good pick” for Fed chair. Jason Furman, who served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under former President Barack Obama, said Warsh is “well above the bar on both substance and independence” to be Fed chair. Economist Mohamed El-Erian said he believed Warsh “brings a strong mix of deep expertise, broad experience and sharp communication skills.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote on BlueSky: “Kevin Warsh—who cared more about helping Wall Street after the 2008 crash than millions of unemployed Americans—has apparently passed [Trump’s] loyalty test.” Warren added that no Republican “purporting to care about Fed independence” should move forward with Trump’s nomination until he drops his “witch hunts” against Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends Friday, said last month he would stay on the central bank’s board as governor. Powell said his decision stemmed from a “series of legal attacks” facing the Federal Reserve, noting he would remain on the board “for a period of time to be determined,” adding, “I will leave when I think it is appropriate to do so.” His move to stay on the board is historically rare, and Powell will be the first former Fed chair to do so since Marriner Eccles, whose term ended in 1948, before he continued as governor until 1951.
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