Kevin Warsh sworn in as Fed chair

Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve on Friday, May 22, 2026, according to the central bank, ending a transition that began with President Donald Trump’s nomination on March 4. The Federal Reserve said Warsh also took office as a member of the Board of Governors on the same day, and that the Federal Open Market Committee unanimously selected him as its chair. The move formally put Warsh in charge of the U.S. central bank after Senate confirmation votes earlier this month. His four-year term as chair runs through May 21, 2030. ### When exactly did Warsh take office? The Federal Reserve said in a May 22 press release that Warsh “took the oath of office as chairman and a member of the Board of Governors” on Friday. The same release said the FOMC, the Fed’s rate-setting body, unanimously selected him as its chairman that day. Kevin Warsh’s official biography on the Fed’s website says he took office as chairman on May 22, 2026, for a four-year term ending May 21, 2030, and that his Board term runs through January 31, 2040. The biography also notes that Warsh previously served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011. ### How did he get there? President Donald Trump nominated Warsh on March 4, 2026, the Federal Reserve said. (federalreserve.gov) The Fed’s press release said the Senate confirmed Warsh to serve as a member of the Board on May 12 and as chairman on May 13. The Senate Banking Committee held Warsh’s nomination hearing on April 21, 2026, in Dirksen Senate Office Building room 538, according to the committee’s hearing notice. (federalreserve.gov) The committee identified him at the time as the nominee to be a member and chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Jerome Powell served briefly as chair pro tempore during the gap between the end of his chair term and Warsh’s swearing-in, the Fed said on May 15. (federalreserve.gov) The Board said Powell would hold that temporary role until Warsh was sworn in as the new chair. ### What do we know from the hearing record? The Senate Banking Committee’s public materials confirm the hearing date and Warsh’s nomination, but the official sources surfaced here do not show the full hearing transcript or verify the phrases “unmatched prosperity” or “inflation can fall while growth remains strong.” A third-party transcript site carries a transcript of the April 21 hearing, but I could not independently verify those exact lines from primary committee materials in this search. (federalreserve.gov) (banking.senate.gov) Elizabeth Warren, the committee’s top Democrat, published a May 22 statement reacting to Warsh’s swearing-in, and Chairman Tim Scott published statements backing his nomination and confirmation. Those statements show the confirmation drew partisan scrutiny as it moved through the Senate. ### What does his appointment change immediately? The FOMC’s unanimous vote means Warsh now chairs the committee that sets U.S. monetary policy, including the federal funds rate. (banking.senate.gov) The Fed biography describes the FOMC as the Federal Reserve System’s principal monetary policymaking body. The Reuters and Associated Press reports that surfaced alongside the official Fed release said Warsh took over at a time of inflation concerns and renewed scrutiny of the Fed’s independence. (banking.senate.gov) Those accounts also said Trump publicly said he wanted Warsh to be “totally independent,” though those remarks were reported by news outlets rather than in the Fed release itself. (federalreserve.gov) ### What happens next? The Federal Reserve’s next scheduled policy meeting is June 16-17, 2026, according to the central bank’s calendar, and that will be Warsh’s first regular FOMC meeting as chair. The meeting will determine whether the Fed changes interest rates or leaves them unchanged. The official record I found verifies the oath, the confirmation timeline, and the dates of Warsh’s terms. (msn.com) I did not find a primary-source confirmation for the specific quotes in your prompt, so I have not repeated them as established fact. (federalreserve.gov)