Kevin Warsh took another step towards becoming Federal Reserve chair on Tuesday, clearing a key Senate vote that puts him on the central bank 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.
Assuming confirmation, Warsh, 56, will take over for Jerome Powell, whose eight-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 into a renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters is completed.
Warsh comes to the Fed at a challenging time for policy.
The war in Iran and tariffs Trump levied last year have put upward pressure on inflation, pushing headline numbers to their highest in nearly three years. At the same time, the labor market has benefited from a low-hire low-fire environment that has kept unemployment in check even as payrolls growth has been inconsistent.
In multiple public statements, Warsh has called for “regime change” at the Fed and has said he believes the central bank’s benchmark interest rate can be lower. However, markets expect the Fed to stay put and even are pricing in elevated odds for a rate hike ahead.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee next meets June 16-17.
CNBC has reached out to Warsh for comment.
