The White House has sent Kevin Warsh's nomination to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
- Warsh, if confirmed by the Senate, will replace current Fed chairman Jerome Powell, for a four-year term.
- Republican Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina has said that he will not vote for any new nominees to the Fed until the investigation on Powell is resolved.
- Current Fed Chair Powell is facing a criminal investigation from the Department of Justice into a $2.5 billion building renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.
The White House on Wednesday has officially nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next chair for the U.S. central bank.
The White House has sent the nomination to the U.S. Senate, saying “Kevin Warsh, of Florida, to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years.”
Warsh, if confirmed by the Senate, will replace current Fed chairman Jerome Powell,for a four-year term.
President Donald Trump on Jan. 30 said that he has picked Warsh, who is a former Fed governor, to be the next chair of the central bank.
Path To Confirmation Isn’t Easy
Republican Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina has said that he will not vote for any new nominees to the Fed until the investigation on Jerome Powell is resolved.
Current Fed Chair Powell is facing a criminal investigation from the Department of Justice into a $2.5 billion building renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington as well as into his congressional testimony about the project itself.
Powell has been at the center of criticism from Trump and his administration over the lack of rate cuts. Trump, since taking oath in January last year, has been pushing Powell and the Fed to cut benchmark interest rates.
However, the Fed has only delivered rate cuts three times since then. In the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in January, the Fed kept interest rates steady, citing inflation worries.
It is widely anticipated that Fed officials will keep interest rates unchanged at the upcoming policy meeting scheduled for March 17-18. According to the CME FedWatch tool, there is a 97.3% chance that the central bank will maintain its benchmark rates within the current target range of 3.50% to 3.75%.
Warsh’s Credentials
Warsh has served in various capacities at multiple corporate and federal institutions. He has served as the Fed’s emissary to emerging and developed economies in the Asian region. He was also at Morgan Stanley as part of its mergers and acquisitions team.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities climbed on Wednesday. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up by nearly 1%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) jumped 1.8%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) rose 0.56%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<
