Senate schedules confirmation vote for Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair on April 29

The Senate Banking Committee set April 29 as the date for Kevin Warsh's confirmation vote to become the next Federal Reserve chairman, following a development that unblocked the nomination: U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro announced the DOJ would drop its investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell and transfer oversight of the matter to the Inspector General's office.

The DOJ investigation had centered on spending related to Federal Reserve building renovations, with costs rising to an expected $2.5 billion. The Washington Examiner reported that President Trump had stated the cost was $4 billion and raised the possibility that Powell was personally profiting from the project — a characterization the Examiner noted was incorrect. Pirro said the IG's office would conduct a comprehensive inquiry and that the DOJ would resume its investigation if the IG's findings justified it.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said the dropping of the DOJ case did not sufficiently protect the Fed's independence. Warren said that the DOJ's posture — retaining the ability to restart the investigation and continuing a separate probe into Fed Governor Lisa Cook — meant the confirmation should not proceed. She described Warsh's hearing performance as demonstrating a lack of independence from the White House. Warsh's confirmation is expected to pass, according to the Washington Examiner.

Even if confirmed, Warsh would face significant obstacles to delivering the rate cuts President Trump has publicly said he expects. At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Warsh pledged independence from White House pressure but offered limited specifics on the direction of monetary policy. Trump said on Fox Business that "when Kevin gets in ... interest rates should be much lower," but economists and Fed watchers noted that Warsh's hearing testimony was more consistent with holding rates steady than cutting them.

Warsh would be one of 12 voters on the Fed's rate-setting committee. The committee voted 11-1 to hold rates unchanged in March, and a faction has discussed the possibility of raising rates rather than cutting them, according to minutes of that meeting reported by the Associated Press. Wall Street futures pricing, as reported by AP, showed little expectation of a rate cut before October 2027. Inflation rose to 3.3% in March — a two-year high — driven in part by higher oil and gas prices following the start of the Iran war on February 28, AP reported. The Fed's target is 2%.