Overview
- Kevin Warsh’s nomination advanced on Monday in a 49–44 cloture vote, with Democrats John Fetterman and Chris Coons joining Republicans to move the process forward.
- The Senate plans a quick sequence of votes, with a confirmation to the Federal Reserve Board expected Tuesday and a separate chair vote as soon as Wednesday.
- Jerome Powell’s chair term ends Friday, and he says he will stay on the Board of Governors during an Inspector General review of Fed headquarters renovation costs after the Justice Department closed its probe but left the door to reopening it.
- Warsh has outlined “regime change” at the central bank, including closer coordination with the Treasury on non-rate policies, a smaller Fed balance sheet, and a shift from core PCE to trimmed-mean and median PCE as preferred inflation gauges.
- Debate over Fed independence has sharpened as the White House presses for lower rates, while recent Fed signals point to fewer near-term cuts after Powell said the policy “center is moving toward a more neutral place” and several officials opposed easing language at the April 29 meeting.