New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh meets Treasury Secretary Bessent in first week, signaling hawkish era ahead
Warsh's early moves and his first FOMC meeting suggest inflation-fighting will take priority over rate cuts, with real implications for risk assets like crypto
Kevin Warsh spent most of his first week as Federal Reserve chairman in internal staff meetings, according to the central bank’s May calendar.
Warsh took the oath of office on May 22 after receiving Senate confirmation earlier that month. The Federal Open Market Committee also unanimously selected him as its chairman.
Following the Memorial Day holiday, Warsh’s calendar was dominated by meetings with Fed staff. His main external engagement was a May 28 breakfast with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Warsh also met with Stephen Miran on May 29, followed later that day by a meeting with Nellie Liang, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The rest of the published schedule consisted largely of staff meetings and a virtual discussion with a Fed governor and a regional Fed president.
The schedule contrasted with Jerome Powell’s final weeks as chairman, when his calendar included several meetings with finance executives and international central bankers.
Powell met Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and UBS Group Chairman Colm Kelleher on May 5. His calendar also included meetings with former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, PIMCO adviser Richard Clarida, Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
Powell traveled to Switzerland and France during his final month, meeting central bank governors from Canada, Sweden, Malaysia and France. He also attended meetings involving the Bank for International Settlements and Group of Seven central bank governors.
His final day as chairman included a lunch with Bessent at the Treasury Department on May 21, one day before Warsh was sworn into office.
Powell has remained on the Federal Reserve Board following the end of his chairmanship. His term as a governor runs until January 2028, limiting the Trump administration’s ability to immediately nominate another member to the seven person board. President Donald Trump has criticized Powell’s decision to stay.
The Fed publishes the chairman’s calendar through its Freedom of Information Act reading room on a monthly basis.