TechFlow to a report by Phoenix News on February 5th, US President Donald Trump stated that Kevin Warsh would not have been nominated as Chairman of the Federal Reserve if he had ever expressed a willingness to raise interest rates.
“If he comes in and says, ‘I want to raise (interest rates),’ he won’t get the job, he won’t,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
Trump said there was "not much" suspense about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates because "our interest rates are too high," but now "we are a rich country again."
When asked if Warsh understood that the president wanted him to lower the benchmark interest rate, Trump responded, "I think he understood, but I think he would have wanted to do it anyway."
Trump's remarks may be mentioned during Warsh's confirmation process, and the Fed's independence is likely to be a core issue in the process.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to block any nominee for the Federal Reserve from joining the organization until the Justice Department concludes its investigation into the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters.
Outgoing Chairman Jerome Powell called the investigation a near-unmasked attack on the Federal Reserve’s ability to independently determine monetary policy. Trump administration officials denied the allegations, but Trump himself has pressured Powell for months to cut interest rates.
Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, was known for his inflation hawkish stance, but he has recently expressed support for interest rate cuts.
