Powell Formally Steps Down May 15 as Kevin Warsh Takes Fed Helm

Jerome Powell led the U.S. Federal Reserve from 2018, steering it through the pandemic, surging inflation and a rapid interest-rate tightening cycle. After former Fed governor Kevin Warsh took over, global financial markets focused on how he would balance inflation control, the Trump administration’s demands for lower rates and the preservation of the Fed’s policy independence.

After the U.S. Senate confirmed Warsh as Federal Reserve chair, Powell stepped down when his term expired on May 15 and Warsh was formally sworn in the same day. Trump personally presided over the ceremony, marking the first White House-led swearing-in in 39 years. Markets saw little likelihood of near-term rate cuts, while investors assessed Warsh’s plans to reform the Fed and the leadership transition’s potential effects on U.S. stocks, the dollar and Treasury yields.