The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors on Tuesday, jumping the last filibuster hurdle for him to be chairman.
The 51-45 vote, largely along party lines, cements his 14-year term as one of the central bank’s seven governors. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, joined Republicans in voting in favor of his nomination.
Mr. Warsh’s confirmation for a four-year term as chair of the board is expected this week, as soon as Wednesday.
He is taking a seat held by Stephen Miran, who was confirmed last September to fill a vacancy created by an early resignation. Though his term expired at the end of January, Mr. Miran was eligible to remain until a successor was confirmed.
A former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers chair under President Trump, Mr. Miran took a leave of absence to serve on the Fed.
A second Senate vote to confirm Mr. Warsh as Fed chair will end the chairmanship of Jerome Powell, whose term expires Friday.
President Trump has publicly and continually aired out his frustrations with Mr. Powell since regaining the White House, displeased with the Fed not lowering interest rates enough.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly referred to him as a “moron,” “numbskull” and “stubborn” because Mr. Powell has refused to aggressively cut interest rates despite slowing inflation and pressure from the White House.
But a criminal investigation into Mr. Powell regarding his testimony to Congress about the multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters caused uncertainty in Mr. Warsh’s confirmation.
After Mr. Powell said that the Fed had received subpoenas, a judge found a “mountain of evidence” indicating that the subpoenas were not a legitimate probe, but rather a pretextual attempt to pressure him into lowering interest rates or resigning.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, previously refused to vote for Mr. Warsh’s nomination until the investigation concluded.
The North Carolina Republican lifted his block on all Fed nominees after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro closed her office’s criminal probe into Mr. Powell, instead passing it to the Fed’s Inspector General, with the possibility of reopening the criminal inquiry if warranted.
Mr. Powell previously said that if the Senate had not confirmed Mr. Warsh by Friday, Mr. Powell would stay in the interim. However, he said he will stay on the board as a governor until the Inspector General concludes its investigation into the project.
