Warsh’s Fed Chair Confirmation Bid Gains Momentum as GOP Holdout Backs Nominee

Kevin Warsh’s bid for Senate confirmation as Federal Reserve chair gained momentum after a Republican senator who had been blocking the process reversed his position.

NBC and other US media outlets reported on April 26 that Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said he was ready to move forward with Warsh’s confirmation and withdrew his earlier opposition. Tillis said he had received assurances that the Justice Department would not infringe on the Fed’s independence.

Tillis had previously maintained that he would not cooperate with the confirmation process until the Justice Department dropped its investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Senate Banking Committee has 24 members, including 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats, meaning a single Republican defection could jeopardize passage.

The situation shifted after the Justice Department formally ended its Powell-related investigation on April 24. The probe centered on renovation costs at Fed buildings, but in political and market circles it had been seen as pressure linked to President Donald Trump’s calls for lower interest rates.

Warsh’s confirmation process is poised to be completed before Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15. The focus now is on Powell’s next move. His term as a Fed governor runs until January 2028, but the end of the investigation and the confirmation of a successor could also lead him to step down from the board as well as the chairmanship.

Lee Song-ryeol, Hankyung.com reporter yisr0203@hankyung.com