An expected nomination hearing for chair candidate Kevin Warsh has been reportedly delayed, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Thursday evening, creating fresh uncertainty around the timeline for confirming the next leader of the US central bank.
As per the earlier plan, Warsh was scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on 16 April, but that will no longer take place, a person told the news outlet. The source added that while the hearing has been postponed, it is expected to happen soon.
The committee’s rules also require it to give a week’s notice before the hearing, and the panel first needs to collect paperwork from the nominee, including financial disclosures. Warsh is yet to make his submissions to the Banking Committee, according to three people familiar with the Senate process, CNBC reported.
The committee has not formally noticed the hearing. The deadline for doing so was Thursday.
US President announced in January Warsh’s nomination to succeed current Fed chair Jerome Powell, whose term as the central bank’s top official expires on 15 May.
Although the Trump administration is seeking to quickly confirm former Fed official Warsh as Powell’s replacement, new developments in the criminal investigation against Powell have continued to delay the process.
What has caused these delays?
Political friction has repeatedly delayed Warsh’s nomination in the Senate, leaving current Federal Reserve chair in position, even as Trump continues to press for a successor who will be more inclined towards faster interest rate cuts.
Powell said in January that the Fed had received subpoenas from US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, which, according to the Fed chair, was a pretext for punishing him for declining to meet Trump’s demands to lower interest rates, according to CNBC.
Later legal proceedings showed that the subpoenas were tied to the cost overruns related to renovation projects at the Fed and his testimony about them, matters that Trump has alleged involve “criminality,” without providing specific evidence, CNBC reported earlier.
However, the Fed’s attorneys asked Chief Judge James Boasberg of the DC District Court to quash the subpoenas, a request he granted after ruling that prosecutors had not presented meaningful evidence of any wrongdoing.
Pirro told CNBC on Wednesday that she plans to move forward with the investigation, leaving Warsh’s path beyond the hearing unclear. Former federal prosecutors with appeals experience say her chances of success are slim and warn the matter could blow back on her legally.
Warsh’s finances, wife, and other details
Warsh’s finances may be complicated. He is married to Estée Lauder Cosmetics heir Jane Lauder, whose net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Financial disclosures filed in 2006, when Warsh was nominated for another position at the Fed, listed nearly 1,200 assets, the vast majority of which were held by his wife, Jane Lauder.
After his stint at the Fed in 2011, Warsh spent nearly 15 years at investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office, where he led venture investments into tech firms, including Palantir.
While the Trump administration appears confident about Warsh’s confirmation, it will be difficult for him to advance beyond a hearing unless Sen Thom Tillis, R-NC, drops a blockade of the nomination, CNBC reported.
