Kevin Warsh was confirmed Wednesday as the next Federal Reserve chair, taking over the central bank at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing for lower interest rates even as fresh inflation data complicates the case for cuts.

In the most divisive vote ever for a Fed chair, Warsh, 56, won confirmation to take over for Jerome Powell, who has served in the top leadership position since 2018 and whose term will expire Friday.

The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Warsh, ending a monthslong saga that began in the summer of 2025 and included an extensive search for Powell’s successor. The vote was almost completely along party lines, with only Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman crossing over to vote for Warsh, who becomes the 11th Fed chair of the modern banking era.

Powell will stay on at the Fed as he has two years left in his term as governor. He said last month that he will remain at least until an investigation into renovations at the Fed’s headquarters is complete. The last time a Fed chair returned to the board was nearly 80 years ago.

Trump has made no secret that he expects Warsh to lower rates after having lashed out repeatedly at Powell for monetary policy the president has felt was too restrictive. Warsh was part of a derby that included nearly a dozen candidates at one point, including current Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman.

“The Senate’s confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve is a welcome step towards finally restoring accountability, competence, and confidence in Fed decision-making,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.

The confirmation comes, however, following separate reports this week showing inflation well above the Fed’s 2% target and pipeline pressures accelerating at their highest levels in more than three years. Markets have been scaling back expectations for rate cuts and are even pricing in a chance of an increase later this year.

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., praised the Fed’s decision and Warsh’s inflation-fighting credentials.

“Chairman Warsh has repeatedly emphasized the importance of placing affordability and price stability at the center of our economic agenda,” Hill said in a statement. “His commitment to disciplined monetary policy will help restore confidence in our economy and support long-term prosperity.”

Warsh could not be reached for comment.

This will be Warsh’s second stint at the Fed.

During his first run, he served from 2006-11, a time during which Fed officials initially dismissed dangers from the subprime mortgage meltdown that led to the global financial crisis, then implemented a historic set of policies aimed at rescuing the economy. Part of those rescue endeavors included an unprecedented expansion of asset purchases that sent the Fed’s balance sheet past $4 trillion, a program known as quantitative easing that Warsh argued then had gone too far.

Since leaving the Fed, Warsh has been a consistent critic of monetary policy and last year, in a CNBC interview, called for “regime change” at the central bank. During the period, he’s been a lecturer at the Stanford School of Business and has served on various boards of directors.

Warsh takes the place of Stephen Miran on the Fed board, who was appointed to governor in September 2025 to fill the few months left on the unexpired term of Adriana Kugler, who resigned unexpectedly in August.

Miran has dissented from each of the Federal Open Market Committee’s votes since taking the seat. When the committee voted to cut by a quarter percentage point at each of last three meetings in 2025, Miran voiced support for a larger half-point cut. This year, he’s opposed votes to keep the federal funds rate steady, arguing for quarter-point reductions.

Warsh’s first meeting as chair of the FOMC is scheduled for June 16-17.

He also will be the wealthiest Fed chair ever, with holdings well north of $100 million. As Fed chair, he’ll have to divest himself of many of his investments under a strict new policy implemented since disclosures of questionable trading practices among top officials.

Correction: Rep. French Hill is from Arkansas. An earlier version misstated the state.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a blistering letter to Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh on Thursday, predicting he would serve as a “rubber stamp for President Trump’s Wall Street First Agenda,” and accusing him of having learned “nothing from your failures” during a prior stint at the central bank.

Warren, D-Mass, in the letter reported first by CNBC, told Warsh that his record as a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors from 2006 until 2011 — which included the 2008-09 financial crisis and Great Recession — “should disqualify you from a promotion.”

“But President Donald Trump has vowed that ‘anybody that disagrees with’ him ‘will never be the Fed Chairman,’ ” Warren noted.

“And you, apparently, have passed his test,” she added.

“As Fed Chair, you will be responsible for directing economy-altering policies that have serious
consequences for American workers and communities,” Warren wrote. “However, your track record leading up to, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis raises significant concerns about your ability to do so.”

The letter, which CNBC obtained before it was publicly released, asked Warsh pointed, detailed questions about 10 different subject areas to be answered for his confirmation hearing at the Senate Banking Committee, where Warren is the ranking Democrat.

But those queries were buried at the bottom of what reads as a scathing, eight-page indictment of his tenure at the Fed, and what she called his advocacy “against tougher safeguards intended to prevent big bank failures and taxpayer bailouts” after he left the central bank.

“I write to better understand what, if anything, you’ve learned from your failure to prioritize American families over Wall Street before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis while serving as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Warren said in the letter’s first sentence.

“Rather than implementing policies to improve the lives of the American public, you ignored the obviously excessive risk-taking on Wall Street; worked tirelessly to bail out large financial institutions after their bets blew up the economy; and advocated for policies that would have further harmed the millions of Americans who lost their jobs, were thrown out their homes, and saw their life savings evaporate,” she continued.

Warsh declined to comment on the letter.

Warsh’s nomination is in limbo as Warren’s fellow Banking Committee member, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he would effectively block the nomination from being considered by the full Senate until a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell is resolved.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has indicated she has no intention of dropping that probe.

Pirro’s office is seeking to reverse a ruling on March 11 by a federal judge in Washington, blocking subpoenas issued to the Fed as part of its investigation of Powell, which is purportedly focused on cost overruns of the pricey renovation of the Fed’s headquarters and testimony about that project to the Banking Committee.

District Court Judge James Boasberg, in his order quashing those subpoenas, wrote, “There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will.”

Trump has repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, pressured Powell and the entire Board of Governors to cut interest rates more quickly and deeply than they have since Trump reentered the White House in January 2025.

Powell earlier in March said he would remain as chair pro tem if Warsh is not confirmed by May, when Powell’s term as chair expires.

In her letter to Warsh on Thursday, Warren said that when he began his service on the Board of Governors, there were “warning signs of the coming crisis” in the subprime home-lending market.

“Yet rather than using the Fed’s powerful supervisory and regulatory authorities to address the severe consumer and financial stability risks posed by subprime mortgages, you defended and even implicitly promoted these products,” Warren wrote.

“Astonishingly, in December 2007, you agreed that “subprime mortgages have gotten a bad name
in this environment,” she wrote. “You also promoted derivatives and other forms of ‘financial innovation’ as vehicles to disperse risk and make the financial system safer.”

“Again, you were wrong.”

Warren said that during the resultant financial crisis, “you appear to have prioritized the interests of large financial institutions ahead of the American public.”

“Your eagerness to bail out Wall Street, including through taxpayer-assisted megamergers, was not surprising, given the seven years you spent as a Morgan Stanley mergers and acquisitions executive prior to joining the George W. Bush Administration,” Warren wrote.

“It has been well-documented that you played a central role helping to arrange numerous [multibillion-dollar] bailouts and even obtained an ethics waiver to deal directly with Morgan Stanley, which received the special regulatory approvals from the Fed on an expedited basis necessary to access additional emergency support.”

The senator said Warsh also advocated for higher interest rates at the time, “further imperiling an ailing economy” that was hemorrhaging jobs.

“Your monetary policy record shows a repeated failure to accurately assess the impact of inflation on the American economy,” Warren wrote.

“It appears you have learned nothing from your failures,” she wrote.

“Since leaving the Fed, you have advocated against tougher safeguards intended to prevent big bank failures and taxpayer bailouts.”

— CNBC’s Matt Peterson contributed to this article.

President Donald Trump announced the establishment of a U.S. critical mineral reserve late Monday, sending shares of miners higher in extended trading.

The proposal, known as Project Vault, would launch a first-of-its-kind strategic critical minerals stockpile designed for the U.S. private sector, the president said, speaking at the White House on Monday afternoon. The plan pairs $1.67 billion in private capital with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, according to a White House official. Trump’s move is aimed at cutting America’s dependence on China for materials essential to electric vehicles, defense systems and advanced technology.

MP Materials, the operator of the Mountain Pass mine in California, rose more than 2% in extended trading. USA Rare Earth and Critical Metals Corp. popped more than 2% and over 1%, respectively, as investors bet the initiative could accelerate domestic demand and government-backed financing for the sector.

Bloomberg News first reported on the proposal earlier Monday.

USA Rare Earth has already held discussions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pitching its domestic mining and magnet assets to the federal government. Those talks would ultimately lead to a proposed deal that could provide the company with about $1.6 billion in funding, subject to certain conditions, and include a U.S. government equity stake.

The moves build on a more direct role Washington has begun taking in the sector. The Department of Defense struck a landmark agreement with MP Materials last summer that included an equity stake, price floor, and long-term agreement to buy a specific amount of rare earth minerals and magnets.

— CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Friday named Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, ending a prolonged odyssey that has seen unprecedented turmoil around the central bank.

The decision culminates a process that officially began last summer but started much earlier than that, with Trump launching a fusillade of criticism against the Powell-led Fed almost since Powell took the job in 2018.

“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the selection.

The pick of Warsh, 55, likely won’t ripple markets because of his past Fed experience and Wall Street’s view that he wouldn’t always do Trump’s bidding.

“He has the respect and credibility of the financial markets,” said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“There was no person who was going to get this job who wasn’t going to be cutting rates in the short term. However, I believe longer term he will be a credible candidate,” added Bahnsen.

Stock market futures nevertheless were slightly negative Friday morning, though off their lows since Warsh’s appointment became clear.

Warsh now faces Senate confirmation. If approved, he will take over the position in May, when Powell’s term expires. Warsh will fill the Board of Governors position currently held by Governor Stephen Miran, whose term expires Saturday. Miran can continue to serve until a replacement is named.

“Christopher Waller, Rick Rieder, and others, were interviewed for the Fed position. They all would have been outstanding, and have a great and unlimited future with ‘TRUMP.’ Such amazing talent in our Country,” Trump said in a separate Truth Social post.

Rieder, thought to be the favorite as recently as Thursday afternoon, congratulated Warsh on the nomination.

“This has been an incredible honor for me,” Rieder said in a statement to CNBC. “I congratulate Kevin on his nomination and think he will serve the institution and our nation very well.”

Trump praised Hassett and said he was so good at NEC that he didn’t want to move him.

“He is doing such an outstanding job working with me and my team at the White House, that I just didn’t want to let him go,” he said.

In a CNBC interview, Hassett said he was not disappointed and wished Warsh well.

“I’ve got my dream job,” he said. I think President Trump made a great choice, and I’m really thrilled and humbled by all the kind things he said about me. You know, the bottom line is that the economic team in this White House … I think we’ve been hitting on all cylinders, and it’s a really bad time to change teams.”

“Kevin Warsh is a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy. However, the Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent,” Tillis posted Friday on social media site X.

“My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” he added.

Hassett told CNBC that the DOJ issue “could get resolved quickly. The White House is highly, highly confident that Kevin Warsh is a great nominee and that he should be confirmed as soon as possible, and every single resource we have at our disposal is behind him, and behind that outcome.”

The nomination gained support elsewhere in Congress. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who chairs the Senate banking committee, praised Warsh’s “deep knowledge of markets and monetary policy that will be essential in this role.”

“The Federal Reserve’s decisions touch every American household, from mortgage rates to retirement savings, and President Trump has been clear that bringing accountability and credibility to the Federal Reserve is a priority, and his nomination of Kevin Warsh reflects that focus,” Scott said.

The issues, though, are more than political.

Though Trump has insisted that inflation has been vanquished, it remains a good deal from the Fed’s 2% target. At the same time, the labor market has slowed, with the economy current in a no-fire, no-hire climate that poses another challenge to Fed policy.

In any event, markets don’t expect much action from the new chair: Traders are pricing in at most two more cuts this year before the benchmark fed funds rate lands around 3%, which policymakers have indicates is the long-run “neutral” rate that neither boosts nor hinders economic growth.

Then there’s the issue of what happens with Powell.

Though chairs historically have resigned their Fed positions after being removed as chair, that may not be the case this time around. Powell has two years remaining in his governor term, and he could choose to serve it as a bulwark against Trump’s efforts to compromise Fed independence. The Supreme Court already is weighing Trump’s move to unseat Governor Lisa Cook, a case that ultimately could decide what powers a president has over Fed board members.

In his first stint at the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh came to a central bank that was about to be asked to save the world. He returns now under very different circumstances, asked to serve a notoriously fickle president who will place significant but very different demands on him.

Warsh indeed is a Fed veteran, serving during the critical period of 2006 to 2011 that led up to and ultimately through the global financial crisis and the central bank’s efforts to stabilize the economy. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Warsh was one of the youngest members ever to serve on the board of governors.

While at the Fed, Warsh played an important role in the design and implementation of emergency lending programs aimed at stabilizing credit markets. Warsh also played a key role in helping devise the myriad programs aimed at rescuing the economy. One of those programs, developed separately at the Treasury Department, became known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, developed by Neel Kashkari, who is now the Minneapolis Fed president.

However, Warsh emerged from the era as a Fed critic.

He warned that large-scale asset purchases and near-zero benchmark interest rates ran the risk of distorting markets and undermining long-term price stability. While supporting the earlier efforts, Warsh voted against the second round of Fed bond buying, a program known as quantitative easing.

“On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down,” the president posted on Truth Social.

Warsh, is a Stanford University graduate who earned his law degree from Harvard. Before joining the Fed, he worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and served in the George W. Bush White House as a special assistant to the president for economic policy.

While positioning himself as a defender of Fed independence, Warsh also has criticized it for mission creep and told CNBC in an interview last year that the central bank needs “regime change.”

Warsh made his misgivings known about the current Fed.

“The credibility deficit lies with the incumbents that are at the Fed, in my view,” he said during that July interview. It’s a position that could put him in an adversarial role at an institution where consensus building is key to policy implementation.

Despite multiple missteps on policymaking, Chair Powell has largely been able to keep the Fed consensus together. However, in recent months that has faltered, with each of the past several meetings featuring at least one and sometimes multiple dissents.

Warsh’s appointment would mark a sharp philosophical shift from Powell’s pragmatic, consensus-driven approach and signal a potential tightening of the Fed’s tolerance for inflation and balance sheet expansion.