Kevin Warsh speaks during a Senate committee hearing April 21 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Warsh was confirmed as the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
May 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Kevin Warsh on Wednesday as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve. Warsh, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, succeeds Jerome Powell, who has been frequently criticized by the president for not lowering interest rates in accordance with Trump's demands.
The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Warsh in the most partisan vote for a chair nominee in history, CNN reported. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to vote in favor of the confirmation.
Warsh will be the 17th chair of the central bank, which is traditionally politically independent. However, Trump has aimed a great deal of criticism at the Fed and its governors over that independence, insulting Powell harshly at times and threatening to fire him.
The president also supported a Justice Department investigation into Powell, allegedly over costs for the central bank headquarters renovation. Powell has said that Trump targeted him because of the Fed would not follow his orders on interest rates. The Justice Department dropped the investigation in late April.
