A nomination hearing for Kevin Warsh – President Trump’s pick to succeed Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve – has been delayed after it was initially slated for April 16, a source familiar with the matter told The Post.
A new date for his hearing has not yet been scheduled, the source said, as the Senate Banking Committee is still waiting to receive Warsh’s paperwork.
The committee is required to give a week’s notice before the hearing is held, so it would have needed to collect Warsh’s filings by midnight Thursday to proceed as previously planned.
It’s a “paperwork issue” similar to one that Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins encountered, since both Atkins and Warsh have particularly complex financial disclosures due to their high net worths, the source said.
Punchbowl News earlier reported the hearing snafu.
Warsh is married to billionaire Estée Lauder heiress Jane Lauder, who is worth about $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
In 2006, when he was nominated for his six-year stint as a Fed governor, his financial disclosures revealed nearly 1,200 assets, though most were held by his wife.
After leaving the Fed in 2011, Warsh worked at billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office, the Duquesne Family Office, for 15 years.
Though Warsh has told Trump he believes interest rates should be lower, the former Fed governor favored higher rates during his term and is widely viewed as an inflation hawk.
Trump announced Warsh as his pick to lead the Fed in January after months of pressuring Powell to slash rates faster – calling him “stupid” and “hardheaded.”
But Warsh’s confirmation has faced snags related to the government’s criminal investigation into Powell and the Fed’s over-budget headquarters renovation project.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member on the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to block any of Trump’s nominees to lead the Fed until the investigation into Powell is fully ended.
Last week, a US district judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to reconsider the legality of two subpoenas targeting the Fed and Powell – but US Attorney Jeanine Pirro quickly vowed to appeal the decision.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Fox Business on Thursday that he is “highly confident” Warsh will be chairman by the end of Powell’s term.
At the Fed’s meeting in March, Powell said he will stay on as “chairman pro tem” if a successor is not confirmed by May 15, adding that it’s “what the law calls for.”
He also said he plans to remain on the board at least until the investigation is over. He could serve as a governor through 2028.
