Senate Confirms Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair in Historic 54-45 Vote — Narrowest Modern-Era Confirmation; Powell Exits May 15

The United States Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on May 13, 2026 in a 54-45 vote — the narrowest Fed Chair confirmation in the modern era and the first fully partisan confirmation after the Senate Banking Committee advanced him 13-11 on a party-line vote on April 29. The floor vote was nearly party-line: only Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman crossed over to vote with Republicans, giving Warsh the slim majority. A prior Senate vote on May 12 had confirmed Warsh as an ordinary member of the Fed Board of Governors to a 14-year term — a procedural prerequisite step before the chairmanship vote. Warsh, 56, succeeds Jerome Powell, whose chairmanship expires May 15 (Powell will remain on the Board as an ordinary governor). Warsh is the first Fed Chair since Alan Greenspan to take over amid a significant inflation challenge — with Brent crude above $108/bbl from the Iran war oil shock and the national gas price at $4.52/gallon. Markets anticipated a possible signal of the first rate cut since the war began at Warsh's first FOMC meeting as Chair, scheduled June 16-17. Warsh previously served as a Fed governor 2006-2011 under Chairman Bernanke and is a former Morgan Stanley investment banker. Former Fed economist Claudia Sahm called the vote 'the first fully partisan Fed Chair committee vote in modern history.' Critics warned of potential erosion of Fed independence given Trump's longstanding pressure on the central bank to cut rates.