Kevin Warsh was sworn in Friday as the 11th Federal Reserve Chair of the modern era by President Donald Trump at a White House ceremony.
Warsh’s formal assumption of the Chair role comes after the Senate confirmed him to lead the Fed May 13 in a 54-45 vote along party lines. The only Democrat to cross the aisle was Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Warsh succeeds Jerome Powell whose term ended May 12, but was name temporary chair last week until Warsh’s swearing in.
“I want Kevin to be totally independent and just do a great job,” Trump said before Warsh was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Trump said he wants Warsh to do his “own thing.”
Warsh said he believes living standards can be raised for Americans and that “the Fed has something to do with it.”
“I will lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve,” Warsh said.
Warsh, 56, whose term will last eight years, takes over a central bank that must navigate a tumultuous economy and a president with specific expectations on interest rates.
Trump Wants Rates Lowered
Throughout his term as chair Powell was a major target of Trump over his refusal to lower rates as quickly or steeply as the president desired. Powell will continue to serve at the Fed as a governor and is the first Fed chair to make such a move in nearly 80 years.
This will be Warsh’s second stint at the Fed. Previously, he served as governor from 2006 to 2011, a time in which the central bank joined forces with Treasury officials to rescue the economy from the global financial crisis.
Warsh was named as the Chair nominee following a wide-ranging competition that began in the summer of 2025 and included as many as 11 candidates, ranging from current and former Fed officials to prominent economists and Wall Street strategists.
Powell’s term was marked by repeated and often personal criticism from Trump, who demanded more aggressive action from the Fed when it came to cutting rates.
Despite Trump’s demands for lower rates, CNBC reported that markets are betting the Fed will stay on hold through most, if not all, of 2026, and then possibly hiking rates in early 2027.
Since previously leaving the Fed, Warsh has spent time at Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office, and as a lecturer at Stanford University and the Hoover Institution. Warsh is the wealthiest person to ever hold the Chair position.
