Successor to Jerome Powell
US President Trump has chosen a new Fed chief
Updated on January 30, 2026 – 1:58 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Donald Trump is in a constant clinch with the current head of the US Federal Reserve. Now he has nominated a successor.
US President Donald Trump has proposed former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh as the successor to US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump announced this on his Truth Social platform. The US Senate has yet to confirm Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Reserve. Powell’s term ends on May 15.
Warsh worked at the investment bank Morgan Stanley before being brought to the White House as an economic adviser by US President George W. Bush. In 2006 he became a member of the Central Bank Council, where he was considered a supporter of a restrictive monetary policy, i.e. higher interest rates in order to keep inflation low.
In recent months, Warsh has increasingly emerged as a critic of the Fed’s interest rate policy under Powell and adopted many of the Trump administration’s policy positions. Among other things, he openly spoke out in favor of interest rate cuts while the Fed still wanted to wait and see the consequences of Trump’s tariff policy on consumer prices.
The Senate would have to approve the personnel, although this does not seem to have been decided yet. An influential member of Trump’s Republican Party, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, is threatening to block any Fed nominations until the Justice Department’s investigation is complete.
Trump had repeatedly verbally attacked Powell in recent months because he did not drastically reduce key interest rates as he had requested. An investigation is also underway against Powell and the Fed for allegedly overspending on a new building. With the end of Powell’s mandate, observers fear for the independence of the US Federal Reserve. Traditionally, the central bank’s independence from political pressure is considered crucial to its role in the fight against inflation.
