By Angus Berwick,
The Senate confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve chair, has wrapped up.
During the session, which lasted more than two hours, senators grilled Warsh about his sizable financial assets and how he plans to divest them, as well as how he plans to preserve the independence of the Fed.
"Fed independence means everything to me," Warsh said. He avoided taking a position on Trump's effort to fire Gov. Lisa Cook or on the criminal probe of the Fed's construction project, citing pending litigation. He said Trump hasn't made him promise interest-rate cuts.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), who has vowed to block Warsh's nomination until the Justice Department probe of the construction project and departing chair Jerome Powell is resolved, reiterated the investigation should be dropped. Earlier this morning, Trump showed no interest in an off-ramp to the showdown.
Warsh campaigned for the job partly on an AI-driven productivity case for cutting rates, though that has now been clouded by the war in Iran and the resulting surge in energy prices. He said Tuesday that "America's economic growth potential is rising," but emphasized the importance of keeping inflation under control.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are edging lower and oil prices ticked up after mixed signals from Iran cast uncertainty over peace talks.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2026 16:09 ET (20:09 GMT)
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