Warsh Fed confirmation plan hits a snag as nomination hearing is delayed
Hoover Institution Economics Fellow and Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Kevin Warsh speaks at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, USA, on May 8, 2017.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The anticipated nomination hearing for Federal Reserve presidential candidate Kevin Warsh has been postponed, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Warsh was scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on April 16. That won’t happen, but the hearing is still expected soon, the person said, requesting anonymity because the details are not made public by the committee.
According to the committee’s rules, one week’s notice must be given before the hearing is held and paperwork must first be collected from the candidate, including financial disclosures. The Banking Committee has not yet received Warsh’s papers, three people familiar with the Senate process said.
The committee has not been formally notified of the hearing. The deadline for this is Thursday.
Warsh’s financial situation may be particularly complicated. He is married to Estée Lauder cosmetics heiress Jane Lauder, whose net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Financial disclosures made in 2006, when Warsh was nominated for a previous post at the Fed, listed nearly 1,200 assets, the vast majority held by his wife. Since leaving the Fed in 2011, he has spent 15 years working in the family office of investor Stanley Druckenmiller, where he managed venture investments in technology companies including Palantir.
President Donald Trump announced Warsh’s nomination in January to replace Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term as the Fed’s top official ends May 15.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in an interview on Fox Business on Thursday that he was “extremely confident” that Warsh would be in office by the end of Powell’s term.
While the Trump administration appears confident about Warsh’s confirmation, it will be difficult for Warsh to advance beyond the hearing unless Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., backs off his opposition. Tillis refuses to vote for any Fed nominee until the Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into Powell. Tillis and Powell described this investigation as a political campaign to undermine the Fed’s independence.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told CNBC on Wednesday that she plans to move forward with the investigation. This leaves Warsh’s path beyond the trial uncertain.
Punchbowl previously reported on the delay in Warsh’s trial.
