Senate confirms Warsh as Fed chair in first fully partisan vote in Fed history

The U.S. Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair on May 11, 2026, in the first fully party-line confirmation of a Fed chair in the institution's history. Every prior Fed chair — from Arthur Burns in 1970 through Jerome Powell — was confirmed with meaningful bipartisan support. Warsh's confirmation came just days before Jerome Powell's term as Chair expired on May 15, and will give Warsh the chair's seat at the June 16-17 FOMC meeting. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the committee's 13-11 party-line vote that preceded it "a historic breach" of the norm of treating the Fed as above partisan politics.