Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee to be the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve, getting sworn in at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee on April 22, 2026. ZUMAPRESS.com If the Senate wants to fight inflation and put the US economy on an even keel, it should confirm Kevin Warsh to head the Federal Reserve Board as soon as possible.
Warsh’s confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee should remove any doubt he’s the right man to head the Fed.
A Stanford professor who served on the Fed board from 2006 to 2011, he’s won the respect of almost everyone, including many Democrats.
In 2006, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called him “tremendously accomplished,” adding he “knows unequivocally . . . the Fed must be independent, non-ideological and nonpartisan.”
Warsh made that clear Tuesday, echoing what he stressed in 2010: “Independence in the conduct of monetary policy is at the core of advanced modern economies.”
That puts the lie to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s portrayal of Warsh as Trump’s “sock puppet”; she and other Dems claim he’ll lower interest rates to please the prez, which could then re-ignite inflation.
Funny: They had no worries at all about inflation back when Team Biden was setting it afire.
Plus, “The president never asked me to commit to interest rate cuts,” Warsh testified, “nor would I have ever done so.”
In any event, Warsh is about as hawkish as you can get on inflation.
He (correctly) sees it as the worst thing for lower-income folks, and blasted the Fed for having “missed the mark” in letting it soar in 2021 and 2022 — the “biggest policy error in 40 or 50 years.”
At the same time, he’s indicated that interest rates might well be able to come down, especially if AI boosts productivity.
Warsh is also likely to move to begin rolling back the Fed’s purchases of private assets — a practice that pushes up all asset prices, mainly benefiting the wealthy.
Hmm: You’d think Democrats, who detest the rich and supposedly champion the poor, would love this guy.
Instead, Warren slammed him for being wealthy, ludicrously suggesting that creates a conflict of interest — though he’s agreed to divest nearly all his assets.
Still, Warsh’s knowledge of economics and the Fed, his clear-headedness, temperament and, yes, independence all make him ideal for the post; his good relations with the president are simply an added plus.
Nor should the Senate hold up Warsh over Trump’s issues with sitting Fed chief Jerome Powell, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) needs to drop his threat to block Warsh’s confirmation until the Justice Department stops probing the chairman.
Whatever you think of that probe, it has nothing to do with Warsh, whom even Tillis respects.
Americans want confidence that the economy is in good hands.
If a replacement isn’t set to go by Powell’s last day as chairman, May 15, and the economy falters, Republicans will pay a price.
