Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh to Fed Board of Governors (14-Year Term); Chairmanship Floor Vote Imminent Before Powell's May 15 Exit

The United States Senate held two roll call votes on the morning of May 12, 2026, advancing Kevin Warsh's path to becoming Federal Reserve Chairman. In the first vote, the Senate confirmed Warsh as a Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to a 14-year term beginning February 1, 2026 — a necessary precursor step to the Chair designation. In the second vote, the Senate invoked cloture on Warsh's nomination as Chairman of the Fed's Board of Governors (the chair-specific vote), setting up the final confirmation floor vote within days. With Republican senators holding a 53-seat majority and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) expected to support, Warsh's final confirmation as Chair was virtually assured before Jerome Powell's term expires May 15, 2026. Warsh, 55, previously served as a Fed governor from 2006–2011 under Chairman Bernanke, and is a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley. The Senate Banking Committee had advanced him 13–11 on a party-line vote April 29 — what former Fed economist Claudia Sahm called 'the first fully partisan Fed Chair committee vote in modern history.' C-SPAN covered the Senate floor session. Warsh will preside over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting as Chair at the June 16–17 session, where markets anticipated a possible signal of the first rate cut since the Iran war began. Powell will remain on the Board of Governors as an ordinary member. Warsh has signaled openness to interest rate cuts and a more 'dynamic' approach to monetary policy that critics have characterized as moving toward White House coordination — a potential threat to Federal Reserve independence.