WASHINGTON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System during a White House ceremony on Friday, beginning a four-year term.
"I will lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes both, escaping static frameworks and models, and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance," said Warsh after he took the oath.
"Today marks a return to an institution that I do, in fact, cherish," said Warsh, who previously served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011.
The swearing-in ceremony took place in the East Room of the White House, making Warsh the first Fed chair to take the oath of office at the presidential residence since Alan Greenspan in 1987.
During the ceremony, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed bipartisan concerns regarding his administration's influence on the central bank, stating that he wants Warsh to be "totally independent."
"Don't look at me, don't look at anybody," Trump told Warsh. "Just do your own thing, and do a great job."
Trump said the Fed lost its way in recent years and became distracted by concerns far removed from its core mission and mandate, drifting into matters such as climate policy and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives introduced during the Biden administration.
Despite Trump's remarks, the high-profile White House ceremony underscored the administration's involvement with the central bank during Trump's second term. Many political and judicial figures attended the event. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas performed the swearing-in of Warsh. Fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh also attended.
Warsh, 56, became the 11th Fed chair of the modern banking era. He succeeds Jerome Powell, who served in the role for eight years. Powell, who was a frequent target of Trump's ire for refusing to lower interest rates as quickly or steeply as the president desired, will take the highly unusual step of remaining at the Fed as a governor. He is the first outgoing chair to do so in nearly 80 years.
The new chair inherits a complex economic dilemma. Powell's tenure concluded with inflation running above the central bank's 2 percent target for five consecutive years. While Warsh has vowed that he can successfully control inflation and simultaneously lower benchmark borrowing costs, market realities conflict with the president's demands for aggressive rate cuts.
Warsh is expected to lead his first policy-setting meeting on June 16-17. Financial markets are currently betting that the Fed will keep rates on hold through most, if not all, of 2026, and are even pricing in the possibility of a rate hike in early 2027.
