Senate panel advances Trump Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh

The Senate Banking Committee voted Wednesday to advance Kevin Warsh’s nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, just days after the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it was dropping its criminal probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The panel voted 13-11 along party lines to send Warsh’s nomination to the full Senate, bringing him one step closer to taking the reins at the central bank.

Warsh’s confirmation has remained in limbo for nearly two months, as the Powell probe complicated the path forward for President Trump’s pick to replace the outgoing Fed chair.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, vowed to block Warsh from advancing while the investigation into Powell’s handling of Fed renovations was ongoing.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who initially approved the probe in November, announced Friday that she was turning over the investigation to the Fed inspector general and closing the DOJ’s probe.

Tillis said Sunday that he would support Warsh’s nomination, clearing the way for the Fed chair nominee.

“I have been clear from the start: the U.S. Attorney’s Office criminal investigation into Chair Powell was a serious threat to the Fed’s independence, and it needed to end before I could support Kevin Warsh’s confirmation,” he wrote in a post on X.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves as ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, slammed the decision to move forward with a vote.

“Either the Republican majority is fooled easily or they are hoping to fool the American people,” she said in a statement Saturday.

The Massachusetts Democrat pointed to Pirro’s warning that she could reopen the investigation “should the facts warrant doing so,” as well as the ongoing probe into Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

“No Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet,” Warren added.

Warsh, who appeared before the Senate Banking panel last week, faced numerous questions from lawmakers about maintaining the independence of the central bank.

This has become a key issue as Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to cut interest rates and publicly feuded with Powell over the central bank’s decisions. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady again Wednesday at its April meeting.

“I do not believe that independence of monetary policy is threatened when elected officials state their views on rates,” Warsh said last week. “Fed independence is up to the Fed.”

He also underscored that Trump has not asked him to commit to any particular interest rate decision, although the president said he would be disappointed if his Fed pick did not immediately cut rates.

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