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President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is nominating Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell when his term expires in May.
The move comes at a turbulent moment for the Federal Reserve, as the Justice Department conducts a criminal probe into Powell, the Supreme Court weighs limits on the Fed’s independence and the cost of living tests Trump’s economic agenda.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!”
If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would assume one of the most powerful positions in U.S. economic policymaking, with direct influence over interest rate decisions and the central bank’s battle against inflation.
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The Federal Reserve, which sets borrowing costs and shapes inflation, wields enormous influence over Americans’ day-to-day affordability.
Warsh’s potential ascension to the top spot at the Fed comes as Trump has often made Powell a lightning rod for economic criticism, with tensions between the two deteriorating over interest rate decisions and broader monetary policy.
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Trump has called on the Fed to cut rates, which he says could save the nation “hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Powell held the benchmark rate at 4.25% to 4.5% as the Fed took a wait-and-see approach to assess the impact of the president’s sweeping tariffs. While the central bank has since lowered rates, Trump’s attacks on Powell, whom he nominated in 2017, have increasingly taken on a personal tone, including the use of mocking nicknames.
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Powell, widely viewed as one of the most crisis-tested Federal Reserve chairs in modern U.S. history, built his career as a lawyer and investment banker in New York before entering public service in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. He joined the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in 2012 and was tapped to lead the central bank in 2017.
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Like Powell, Warsh is not an economist by training. Instead, he brings a background in law and finance that has shaped his views on the Federal Reserve.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1992 and a law degree from Harvard in 1995. He built his career at Morgan Stanley and, at 35, became the youngest person to serve on the Fed’s board in 2006.
Though he stepped down in 2011, he was widely recognized as the Fed’s key liaison to Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis. He previously worked in the Bush administration as a special assistant to the president for economic policy and executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
Some business leaders have framed Warsh’s nomination as a pivotal moment for U.S. economic and energy policy. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the country faces an “inflection point,” pointing to rising power demand from artificial intelligence, energy security concerns and shifting global geopolitics.
“Having known Kevin Warsh for decades, he’s uniquely prepared — in judgment, experience and temperament — to serve our country at this critical time,” Wirth said.
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Warsh was among Trump’s leading candidates to replace Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in 2017. However, Trump ultimately appointed Powell to the role.
More recently, Warsh was considered a contender for treasury secretary in the second Trump administration before the president chose former hedge fund chief Scott Bessent.
Before landing on Warsh, Trump was also considering National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller and BlackRock Global Fixed Income Chief Investment Officer Rick Rieder. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said all would have been “outstanding” choices for Fed chair.
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