Kevin Warsh hasn’t even chaired his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting yet, and former Fed Governor Betsy Duke is already setting expectations: he’s a hawk, and his opening act will be about how the Fed talks, not what it does.
Duke, who served alongside Warsh on the Fed’s Board of Governors, told Bloomberg that the new chair’s first meeting will be “all about communications.”
The Warsh era begins
Warsh was officially sworn in as Fed Chair on May 22, 2026, succeeding Jerome Powell after a confirmation process that was anything but smooth. The Senate confirmed his appointment on May 13 with a vote of 54-45 or 55-45. President Trump had nominated him back on March 4.
His first FOMC meeting is scheduled for June 16-17, and market participants are widely expecting the federal funds rate to hold steady at 3.5% to 3.75%.
