April 21, 2026
Well – that escalated quickly.
That’s the guy President Trump wants to be the next Federal Reserve chairman….Kevin Warsh. And you should care about Kevin Warsh and what he says because he could soon be the guy who will have a major impact on your wallet, on your job and on the US economy.
Quick background on Warsh – he was a member of the Federal Reserve board during the financial collapse in 2008. Even Democrats agree he has the pedigree to be Fed chairman – he went to Stanford he went to Harvard Law he worked at Morgan Stanley since then he’s been in the private sector he’s been a professor and he sits on the board of UPS. Oh and he’s really rich. According to his financial disclosure form he’s worth between $131 and $209 million. He is by far the richest person to ever be nominated for this job. That’s what Senator Warren and the rest of the Democrats were getting at with those questions about what Warsh going to do with all his money and investments if he becomes the next Fed chairman…and why they were concerned about not knowing exactly what he’s actually invested in and how he’s going to divest it all. Obviously – what he has, how he divests it and who he divests it to — brings up questions of conflicts of interest. But that’s not all – the Democrats are also concerned about Warsh’s flip flopping on his stance on interest rates. They say when Trump is out of office Warsh is all about higher interest rates but when Trump is in office he’s all about lower interest rates.
Speaking of President Trump…that’s another concern. As I have been reporting – Trump has been railing on the current Fed chairman Jerome Powell for the last year…even though Trump was the one who made Powell the Fed chair during his first term. Now he calls him every single name in the book. All because Trump wants Powell to lower interest rate and Powell and the Federal Reserve board won’t. Now – I’ve reported extensively about all of the horrible things that can happen to the US economy when the Federal Reserve loses its independence and basically does what the president wants instead of what’s right for the economy. And it seems that was a something a republican on the committee wanted to get some clarity on too.
Jerome Powell’s term is supposed to end on May 15th. And in a normal world – with a confirmation hearing on April 21st and widespread support from the Senate majority party – Kevin Warsh should be a lock and would probably be confirmed tomorrow. Except – we don’t live in a normal world. One Senate Republican is standing in the way of Kevin Warsh becoming the next Fed chairman. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina. And if Tillis doesn’t get out of the way Warsh is going to be out of luck because Republicans need Tillis’s vote to advance Warsh’s nomination out of the committee. The ironic part of all this is – Tillis really wants Warsh to be Fed chair. He supports Warsh. He would vote for him right now. But he won’t at least not until President Trump drops the criminal investigation into he current Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
As of today – Trump is refusing to drop the criminal investigation into Powell. And Tillis is refusing to vote for Warsh. So it’s a standoff. And meanwhile the clock is ticking to the end of Powell’s term.
Watch Warsh’s full confirmation hearing here.
