Kevin Warsh’s first act as Fed chairman was to rip up the playbook. At his debut FOMC meeting on June 17, 2026, the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve held rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, announced five new internal task forces, and delivered a policy statement so short it practically fit on an index card.
A shorter statement, a louder message
Previous Fed chairs spent years carefully seeding their policy statements with hints about future rate moves. Warsh declined to give any rate outlook at all, producing a significantly shortened statement that omitted the forward guidance investors had come to treat as gospel.
The five task forces he announced are designed to reevaluate key areas of Fed operations, including the central bank’s communication strategies and its frameworks for addressing productivity, job creation, and inflation.
Warsh, who was sworn in as Fed Chair on May 22, 2026, succeeding Jerome Powell, has made clear where he stands on at least one thing. “Inflation is a choice,” he stated, while reaffirming the Fed’s commitment to a 2% inflation target.
