headline: Trump formally nominates Warsh as Fed chair; GOP senator vows to block confirmation slug: 2026-03-04-trump-formally-nominat…

  • The Trump administration formally forwarded Kevin Warsh’s nomination to be Federal Reserve chair to the Senate on Wednesday, setting up a…
  • The path narrows because Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has conditioned any confirmation vote on resolution of a Justice Department c…
  • The Trump administration on Wednesday formally forwarded Kevin Warsh’s nomination to be Federal Reserve chair to the Senate, where it wil…
  • The confirmation path is uncertain. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the Banking Committee, said he will oppose confirmin…

The Trump administration formally forwarded Kevin Warsh’s nomination to be Federal Reserve chair to the Senate on Wednesday, setting up a confirmation fight that could stall before the full chamber ever votes. Warsh, a former Fed governor, must first clear the Senate Banking Committee — where at least one Republican member has said he will vote to block the nomination.

The path narrows because Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has conditioned any confirmation vote on resolution of a Justice Department criminal investigation targeting current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in roughly two months. If committee Democrats hold together in opposition alongside Tillis, the nomination would not advance to the full Senate.

The Trump administration on Wednesday formally forwarded Kevin Warsh’s nomination to be Federal Reserve chair to the Senate, where it will be taken up by the Senate Banking Committee. The nomination, which President Donald Trump first announced on January 30, reaches the committee with Jerome Powell’s term as chair set to expire in approximately two months.

The confirmation path is uncertain. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican on the Banking Committee, said he will oppose confirming Warsh until a criminal investigation into Powell is resolved. Tillis said the committee could hold a hearing on the nomination, but that he would vote to block Warsh’s confirmation from advancing to the full Senate floor.

If all Democrats on the Banking Committee voted against Warsh alongside Tillis, the nomination would not clear the committee, according to the Associated Press.

The Justice Department investigation centers on Powell’s Senate testimony last June about the central bank’s $2.5 billion building renovation project. Powell disclosed on January 11 that the Justice Department had subpoenaed the Fed over that testimony.

Warsh’s policy positions

Warsh, who previously served as a Fed governor, has been a sharp critic of the central bank’s low interest rate policies during and after the pandemic. He has said those policies contributed to the largest inflation spike the United States experienced in four decades, which ran through 2021 and 2022.

Since his nomination, however, Warsh has aligned publicly with Trump’s calls for lower borrowing costs. Warsh argues that productivity gains driven by artificial intelligence will allow the economy to grow more quickly without generating inflation — an argument he says creates room for the Fed to reduce rates. Many current Fed officials disagree that AI’s development supports rate cuts, the AP reported.