Kevin Warsh's Senate hearing to be Fed chair is next week. What to watch as Trump's pick faces the spotlight.

By Victor Reklaitis and Greg Robb

Current Fed chief Jerome Powell has said he'll stay on as 'chair pro tem' if Warsh isn't confirmed by mid-May

Is Kevin Warsh (at left) finally getting close to succeeding Jerome Powell (at right) as Fed chair? President Trump announced Warsh as his nominee on Jan. 30.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott said Tuesday that his panel will hold a hearing next week to consider President Donald Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve chief, Kevin Warsh, and predicted that the Senate will confirm Warsh "in the next several weeks."

Warsh's nomination has been held up for months. The former Fed governor was rolled out on Jan. 30 as Trump's pick for the top job at the U.S. central bank, but Republicans don't have the votes to confirm him as long as the Trump administration's Department of Justice continues its criminal investigation of current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has been declining to back Warsh until the probe is resolved, and his objection is enough to hold up the confirmation process.

"Sen. Tillis looks forward to supporting Kevin Warsh once the DOJ's frivolous investigation has concluded," spokesman Adam Webb told MarketWatch on Tuesday.

The probe, which is being run by Trump ally Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., is focused on whether Powell lied to Congress about cost overruns in the renovation of the Fed's headquarters building. Powell and many analysts have argued the probe is just another way for the Trump administration to apply pressure on the Fed for not doing more to lower interest rates.

In an interview with Fox Business Network on Tuesday, Scott, a South Carolina Republican, said the Senate Banking Committee will host Warsh at a hearing next week. It has now been set for April 21 at 10 a.m. Eastern time, according to the panel.

The discussion will touch on the economy, inflation and the Fed's independence, Scott said. The senator acknowledged that Tillis wants the DOJ to "be done with their investigation of Jay Powell," and he said he believes "we are getting closer and closer to that being a reality in the next few weeks."

"That allows us to move forward as a committee and vote Kevin Warsh to the floor of the Senate. That will get him confirmed in the next several weeks," Scott said.

So what should investors expect at next week's hearing?

The committee's Democratic members are likely to grill Warsh over "whether he's going to be truly independent or whether he's just going to do what the president wants him to do," said Ian Katz, an analyst and managing director at Capital Alpha Partners. That back-and-forth won't actually sway any committee members, and Warsh eventually will get the committee's OK in a party-line vote, Katz added.

Democratic committee members such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts could also put a spotlight on how Warsh would be the wealthiest Fed chair ever. His financial disclosures indicate a net worth of around $100 million or even $200 million, and that's separate from the assets of his billionaire wife, Estee Lauder (EL) heiress Jane Lauder.

"I could see someone like Elizabeth Warren asking him questions about, or even making assertions about, how he's maybe going to be beholden to all of Wall Street because of his wealth, and because of his background and who he's worked for," Katz told MarketWatch. "But again, I don't think it's going to change any votes."

In a statement, Warren said the Senate shouldn't hold a hearing or vote on Warsh's nomination while Trump "continues his attempt to take over the Fed."

"The president is desperate to cover up his economic failures, and it would be a mistake for the Senate to confirm a Trump sock puppet to run America's central bank," she said.

Warsh served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011. Since leaving the central bank in 2011, Warsh has, among other things, served as a lecturer at Stanford University's business school and as a visiting fellow at the university's Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank. He is a partner in billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller's investment firm. He has also served on the board of directors for shipping company UPS (UPS) and for Korean e-commerce company Coupang (CPNG).

If Trump's DOJ doesn't find a way to end its probe of Powell, the current Fed chief has said he plans to remain in that post beyond mid-May, when his term as chair expires. A month ago, Powell said he will stay on as "chair pro tem" if Warsh is not confirmed by mid-May.

Robert Schroeder contributed.

-Victor Reklaitis -Greg Robb

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04-14-26 1445ET