Warsh Won't Say if He's Spoken with Trump Since Taking the Fed's Helm

Senate Democrats are uneasy about White House influence at central bank

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh declined on Wednesday to say whether he has talked to President Donald Trump since he took over as the head of the central bank in late May.

"I just don't want to be in the business of sharing discussions that the president and I have," Warsh told Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat.

For years, Trump publicly berated Jerome Powell, Warsh's predecessor as Fed chair, for failing to slash interest rates. Democrats are worried that Trump will try to push Warsh towards his preferred interest-rate policy, even though the Fed is supposed to operate independently from the White House.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said that Trump had Warsh "in his pocket."

"Given the president's past record of trying to influence Fed behavior via social media with respect to your predecessor, if he's trying to influence Fed behavior through private conversations with you, I think that needs to be something the public is aware of," Van Hollen said.

Warsh told Van Hollen that he is in close contact with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and that he plans to "make my own decisions with regard to monetary policy." He added that he told Trump that he will be an "independent guy."

If Trump tried to influence him about interest rates, "I would continue to keep my head down and do the job," Warsh said.

Warsh suggested that contact between the White House and Fed chairmen was fairly common when Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan led the Fed.

"I certainly don't feel uncomfortable receiving calls from the chairman of this committee or the president of the United States," Warsh said.

Van Hollen said he took from Warsh's answer that he has had contact with the president, but didn't want to disclose the content of the discussions. He asked Warsh if he will disclose his meetings with Trump on the monthly schedule calendar that the central bank posts on its website.

Democrats remain uneasy about Trump's unprecedented pressure on the Fed. Warren said Trump "will not stop until he controls the Fed."

"He just needs one more seat to do that," she noted, referring to the fact that there are four Biden appointees on the Fed's seven-member board of governors.

Even though the Supreme Court blocked Trump from immediately removing Fed governor Lisa Cook from office, Trump has vowed to continue to find a way to remove her.

-Greg Robb

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July 15, 2026 13:27 ET (17:27 GMT)

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