Kevin Warsh was sworn in this Friday as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States in a ceremony held at the White House and led by President Donald Trump, who described him as one of the great leaders the central bank has had in its history.
The arrival of Warsh to the position follows his confirmation by the Senate with 54 votes in favor and 45 against, in one of the most polarized Senate sessions in recent years, with the Democrat John Fetterman being the only cross-party vote in favor.
Trump praised the new head of the central bank with words that left little room for doubt about his expectations: "I hope he goes down in history as one of the truly great Federal Reserve chairs we've had."
At the same time, the president publicly stated that he wants Warsh to act with complete autonomy: "I want Kevin to be totally independent. Don't look to me. Don't look to anyone. Do your own thing and do it well."
Warsh, 56 years old and originally from Albany, New York, had already committed to that independence during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on April 21: "I am honored that the president has nominated me for the position, and I will be an independent actor if I am confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve."
The new president of the central bank succeeds Jerome Powell, who held the position for eight years marked by the pandemic, inflation remaining above the 2% target for more than five years, and increasing tension with the Trump administration.
Warsh returns to the institution with a reform agenda that includes a "regime change" in the formulation of monetary policies, the reduction of the central bank's balance sheet, and the use of interest rates as the primary tool.
His profile combines experience in the private sector — he worked at Morgan Stanley in the mergers and acquisitions area — with a previous tenure as a governor of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2011, appointed by President George W. Bush.
During the financial crisis of 2008, he was regarded as an anti-inflation "hawk," but in recent years he has moderated that stance and aligned himself with the call to lower interest rates, attributing the post-pandemic inflation to "monetary policy mistakes" made by the Fed in 2021 and 2022.
The institutional context in which he assumes his position is not straightforward. The Trump administration opened a criminal investigation against Powell in January 2026 for alleged irregularities in renovation work on Fed buildings, an investigation that was closed in April, and is still trying to remove Governor Lisa Cook.
Analysts warn that the road ahead will not be easy. David Wessel from the Brookings Institution noted that Warsh "will need to work in consensus with other monetary policy officials," while Kathryn Judge, a law professor at Columbia University, stated that internal divisions at the Fed will pose a "significant challenge" for the new chairman.
Powell, for his part, announced that he will remain on the board of the Federal Reserve until he ensures that the independence of the institution is fully restored.
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