Washington — The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors on Tuesday, a crucial step in President Trump's push to make Warsh the central bank's leader after months of uncertainty due to a criminal probe of outgoing chief Jerome Powell.

The chamber voted 51-45 to confirm Warsh to a 14-year term as one of the Fed's seven governors. The Senate still needs to vote separately to confirm Warsh as chair of the Board of Governors, replacing Powell, whose four-year term as chair ends Friday. That vote is expected later this week.

Warsh is taking the board seat held by Stephen Miran, a Trump adviser who was confirmed to the Fed last September to fill a vacancy created by an early resignation. Miran's term technically ended in January, but he was allowed to remain on the board until his successor was confirmed. Miran previously chaired the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, and in an unusual move, took a leave of absence to serve on the Fed for a few months.

Warsh's term as Fed governor will run until 2040.

An alumnus of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Warsh is returning to the Fed after a five-year stint as a governor that ended in 2011, spanning the global financial crisis. Since leaving the Fed, he has worked as a Hoover Institution fellow and an adviser for billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller. Warsh's net worth exceeds $100 million, and he is married to Jane Lauder, the billionaire granddaughter of cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder.

Warsh has been a frequent critic of the Fed, questioning everything from the size of its balance sheet and its approach to regulating banks, to the ways it uses data and communicates to the public. Warsh has also signaled at times over the last year that he's open to lowering interest rates, though in his prior run as a Fed governor, he was known as more of a hawk, focused on inflation risks and wary of overly loose monetary policy.

Mr. Trump has made no secret of his desire for the Fed to lower interest rates, calling Powell a "moron" and a "stubborn mule" for not agreeing to aggressively slash rates. The Fed faces tough trade-offs in its rate-setting decisions: Lowering them can boost economic growth, but sometimes at the cost of causing inflation to heat up.

Since joining the Fed board last fall, Miran has dissented from every decision by the Fed's interest rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. When the 12-member panel left rates stable in its three meetings so far this year, Miran called for rate cuts. When the panel had reduced rates for its final three meetings of 2025, Miran argued the cuts should've been larger.

In confirmation hearings, Warsh promised to safeguard the Fed's power to set interest rates independently. He said Mr. Trump "never asked me to predetermine, fix or decide on any interest rate decision, nor would I ever do so."

"I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve," he said last month.

Warsh's confirmation was thrust into uncertainty earlier this year, after Powell revealed that the Fed had received subpoenas as part of a criminal probe into his testimony to the Senate about a multibillion-dollar renovation to the central bank's headquarters. Powell argued the investigation was an attempt to intimidate him, which prosecutors deny. A judge quashed the subpoenas, finding they were intended to "harass" Powell into either lowering rates or resigning.

The investigation worried some Senate Republicans, with Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina refusing to vote any Fed nominees out of the Senate Banking Committee unless the investigation ended. 

Tillis lifted his block on nominees after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said last month her office would close its probe. Pirro said the Fed's Inspector General will look into the issue, and she will "not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so."

As a member of the seven-person Fed board, Warsh will serve with two governors who were nominated during Mr. Trump's first term, plus three Biden nominees. Mr. Trump's attempts to fire one of the Biden picks have been blocked in court so far.

And, at least for now, Powell will round out the board. He has said he will remain a rank-and-file member of the Fed's Board of Governors until he's confident the investigation is "well and truly over," making him the first outgoing Fed chair in more than 75 years to stick around after his chairmanship is up.

Powell has not specified how long he will stay on the board. His term ends in January 2028. He has promised to keep what he said would be a "low profile."