Kevin Warsh, economics fellow at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Management, speaks at the Thorne Investment Conference in New York City, USA, on May 8, 2017.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
A scheduled nomination hearing for Federal Reserve Chairman candidate Kevin Warsh has been postponed, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Thursday night.
Warsh was scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on April 16. That won’t happen, but a public hearing is still expected to be held soon, said the person, who asked not to be named because the committee hasn’t released details.
Committee rules require a week’s notice before hearings, and the committee must first collect documents from candidates, including financial disclosures. The Banking Committee has not yet received Mr. Warsh’s papers, according to three people familiar with Senate proceedings.
The commission has not formally authorized the hearing. That deadline was Thursday. Punchbowl previously reported on Warsh’s delay to his hearing.
Mr. Warsh’s finances may be particularly complicated. He is married to Estée Lauder cosmetics heiress Jane Lauder, whose net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Mr. Warsh’s financial disclosures filed in 2006, when he was appointed to his first term at the Fed, listed nearly 1,200 assets, most of which were held by his wife.
Since leaving the Fed in 2011, Warsh spent 15 years in the family office of investor Stanley Druckenmiller, where he led venture investments in technology companies. Palantir.
President Donald Trump announced in January that he would nominate Warsh to replace Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term as a senior Fed official expires on May 15.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in an interview on FOX Business Thursday that he is “very confident” that Warsh will take over as chairman by the end of Powell’s term.
The Trump administration appears confident of Warsh’s confirmation, but unless Republican Sen. Thom Tillis lifts his block on the nomination, it will be difficult for Warsh to move beyond a hearing.
Mr. Tillis is refusing to vote for any Fed nominee until the Justice Department discontinues its criminal investigation into Mr. Powell. Mr. Tillis and Mr. Powell argued that the investigation was a politically motivated effort to undermine the Fed’s independence.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told CNBC on Wednesday that she plans to proceed with the investigation. As a result, Warsh’s path beyond the hearing remains unclear.
