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Trump Nominates Warsh as Fed Chair; Senate Blocks Confirmation

4/24/2026

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Summary

Trump Nominates Warsh

President Donald Trump nominated Fed governor Kevin Warsh ’92 as Reserve chair on April 23, 2026.
Warsh said he will not promise Trump rate cuts and will pursue policy.
Senator Elizabeth Warren called Warsh a “sock puppet,” prompting Senator Thom Tillis to block confirmation until the DOJ investigation of Jerome Powell ends.
The nomination lifted dollar, raised bond yields, and prompted White House to seek a Senate vote in 60 days.

Summary

Warsh Launches Database

Warsh announced a data project to build a billion-price inflation database.
He prefers trimmed-mean gauges, citing the Dallas Fed’s 2.33% reading versus the 3% core PCE rate.
He noted the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Cleveland trimmed-mean for February was 2.7%, a level near his target.
He urged Congress to boost Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) funding and advocated a smaller Fed balance sheet to let interest rates serve as policy tool.

History

Historical Context

In February 1994 the Federal Reserve, chaired by Alan Greenspan, raised the federal-funds target from 3 % to 3.25%, beginning a series of hikes that ended the year at 5.5 %. The moves triggered a global bond sell-off that erased about $1.5 trillion in market value, roughly $1 trillion of which was U.S. debt. The episode is cited when policymakers debate how driven appointments can reignite market instability.

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Trump Nominates Warsh

President Donald Trump nominated Fed governor Kevin Warsh ’92 as Reserve chair on April 23, 2026.
Warsh said he will not promise Trump rate cuts and will pursue policy.
Senator Elizabeth Warren called Warsh a “sock puppet,” prompting Senator Thom Tillis to block confirmation until the DOJ investigation of Jerome Powell ends.
The nomination lifted dollar, raised bond yields, and prompted White House to seek a Senate vote in 60 days.

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