All posts tagged: Jerome Powell

Outgoing chair Powell delivers defence of Fed independence

Outgoing chair Powell delivers defence of Fed independence

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON: Outgoing US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Sunday (May 31) delivered a staunch defence of the need for the central bank to maintain independence and credibility, as it comes under assault from President Donald Trump. “Like many other institutions, the Fed has been undergoing a stress test,” he said as he accepted an award from the John F Kennedy Library Foundation. “If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well,” Powell said, in a barely veiled reference to the Trump administration’s attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook. “The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans.” In his second term in power, Trump has frequently criticised and insulted Powell, alleging he was too slow to lower interest rates. Trump’s Justice Department went so far as to pursue criminal charges against the Fed chair over a building renovation project. The probe was eventually dropped to smooth the path towards Powell’s …

Trump swears Kevin Warsh in as Fed chair, seeking interest rate cuts

Trump swears Kevin Warsh in as Fed chair, seeking interest rate cuts

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump led a ceremony swearing in Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve, putting him in charge of a central bank that must navigate a tumultuous economy and a president with very specific expectations on interest rates. Trump, whose actions toward the Fed have spurred bipartisan alarms about executive influence on the historically independent central bank, said he wanted Warsh to “just do your own thing and do a great job.” “I want Kevin to be totally independent,” Trump said at the start of the event Friday morning. “Don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody.” But the swearing-in ceremony itself highlighted the the president’s unprecedented involvement with the Fed during his second term: Warsh is the first Fed chair to be sworn in at the White House since Alan Greenspan in 1987. The event in the East Room was attended by a range of high-profile figures, including Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, House Speaker Mike Johnson and many other politicians and Cabinet officials. Thomas delivered the oath to …

Trump finally gets his man at the Fed. Will Kevin Warsh disappoint him?

Trump finally gets his man at the Fed. Will Kevin Warsh disappoint him?

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh, nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, is sworn in to his Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images It has taken eight and a half years, but on Wednesday President Donald Trump finally succeeded in reversing one of the few mistakes he has admitted to making as president. In November 2017, Trump chose Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve, opting for someone he saw as malleable over a charismatic but youthful former Fed governor, Kevin Warsh. Trump has regretted it ever since. The question that has consumed the markets as the Senate moved toward Wednesday’s confirmation is whether Trump will come to regret this decision, too. Fed chairs “change once they get the job,” Trump said in January. If Warsh loses Trump’s backing, the new Fed chair may not have the bulwark of congressional support that helped Powell resist Trump.  Whether Warsh can succeed in the mission of “regime change” he has …

Trump finally gets his man at the Fed. Will Kevin Warsh disappoint him?

Senate confirms Kevin Warsh as Fed governor, clears way for chair vote

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh took another step toward becoming Federal Reserve chair on Tuesday, clearing a key Senate vote that puts him on the central bank’s Board of Governors. The upper chamber voted to approve Warsh’s nomination by a 51-45 vote, on a mostly party-line basis. Only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed lines to vote for President Donald Trump’s pick. Next up for the nominee, who sat on the board from 2006 to 2011, is the vote to be chair, which is expected Wednesday. Terms for governors last 14 years, while the chair’s term goes for four years. Warsh’s vote also means the end of Stephen Miran’s brief term on the board. Miran also was a Trump nominee and filled the seat vacated by Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August 2025. Read more CNBC politics coverage Assuming confirmation, Warsh, 56, will take over for Jerome Powell, whose 8-year stint at the helm will officially end Friday. However, Powell’s term on the board doesn’t end until 2028, and he has indicated he will stay on until a probe …

Powell making ‘significant mistake’ staying on at the Fed

Powell making ‘significant mistake’ staying on at the Fed

Published by Sam Flores

Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) delivers an opening statement during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chair of the Federal Reserve, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is making a “significant mistake” by staying on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after his term atop the central bank ends. “He’s breaking 75 years of precedent. Every time you get a new chairman, the former chairman leaves. That’s good news because what you don’t want are these philosophies in conflict,” Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference.  “I think for the country and for the Fed, it would be best if he left,” Scott said. Read more CNBC politics coverage Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15. By staying on, he is denying President Donald Trump a majority on the board, on which …

Warsh’s take on Fed independence is met with confusion, concern

Warsh’s take on Fed independence is met with confusion, concern

Published by Sam Flores

Most people don’t know and don’t have much reason to care what a currency swap line is, except that the financial instrument could soon help markets understand what Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s unique ideas about Fed independence really mean. Warsh has said categorically the Fed should be “strictly independent” in the making of monetary policy. But he adds that he’s willing to work with Congress and the Trump administration on “non-monetary matters.” In answers to senators’ questions following his April 21 confirmation hearing, he elaborated: “Fed officials are not entitled to the same special deference in areas affecting international finance, among other matters.” Warsh has also talked often about a new “Fed/Treasury accord” that he’s suggested could govern the Fed’s balance sheet, though in ways he has yet to detail. To six former Fed officials interviewed for this article, those comments were unclear or confusing at best. When it comes to Fed independence, they found his analysis worrisome at worst. The outcomes could be benign, tinkering around the edges of existing conventions, or …

Pirro appears to drop plans to appeal criminal probe of Fed’s Powell

Pirro appears to drop plans to appeal criminal probe of Fed’s Powell

Published by Sam Flores

Jeanine Pirro is sworn in as the new interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia during a ceremony hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 28, 2025. Leah Millis | Reuters U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Sunday appeared to abandon a plan to appeal an adverse ruling in her attempts to criminally investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Pirro has long said she planned to ask a higher court to review recent rulings by Chief Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia quashing her subpoenas to the Fed. She has argued that the judge’s decision makes it difficult for her to conduct grand jury investigations in general. Her appeal was due by Monday. Pirro appeared to change tack in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’re going to make a motion to vacate the order of Judge Boasberg, because we think it’s extremely important for us as prosecutors, the precedent that it sets to prevent us from going into …

Pirro keeps pressure on Fed’s Powell despite dropping probe

Pirro keeps pressure on Fed’s Powell despite dropping probe

Published by Sam Flores

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, Feb. 6, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro may have suspended her criminal investigation into outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but she and her office remain at the center of the power struggle over the influential central bank. How she handles an imminent appeal will help determine the extent of President Donald Trump’s influence on the Fed. Pirro has until Monday to appeal District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg’s rulings quashing her subpoenas to the Fed. What her office says in the filing will be critical in determining how long Powell stays on the Fed after his chairmanship ends, and therefore when Trump is able to appoint a new Fed governor to replace him. It could also determine whether the effective ceasefire between Trump and the Fed settles in or if hostilities recommence, potentially unsettling markets. The Department of Justice didn’t …

Warsh hints at a new reading of the Fed’s power over swap lines

Warsh hints at a new reading of the Fed’s power over swap lines

Published by Sam Flores

Kevin Warsh, nominee for US Federal Reserve Chair, testifies during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 21, 2026. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh believes the Fed’s statutory independence doesn’t fully extend to international policy issues, he said in in written responses published Tuesday to Senate Democrats’ questions about the Fed’s authority to establish swap lines. Warsh in those comments also flatly denies having any connection to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and hints he will abide by a plan to rely on the Fed’s inspector general to resolve a federal criminal investigation into the Fed under its current chair Jerome Powell. Swap lines have become an urgent question in Washington after the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the United Arab Emirates had discussed opening one during conversations about potential U.S. assistance for any Iran war-related economic fallout. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said many countries in the Persian Gulf and Asia have requested swap …

Warsh revolution is coming to the Fed. Powell won’t stop it: Analysis

Warsh revolution is coming to the Fed. Powell won’t stop it: Analysis

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell departs following his final press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 29, 2026. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters How do you change regimes when the head of the old one isn’t leaving? That will be the question facing Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh next month once confirmed by the Senate, now that outgoing Chair Jerome Powell has confirmed he will stick around indefinitely as a voting member of the Fed’s Board of Governors. Powell’s decision to stay has little precedent in Fed history, but it may be less disruptive to Warsh’s plans than it might otherwise seem. Powell said at a Wednesday press conference that he has no desire to be a “shadow chair” and that his plans for an extended tenure at the Fed are aimed squarely outside the infamously crumbling walls of the Marriner S. Eccles headquarters building. Powell’s rejection of the shadow chair idea is fitting given that it was …