Warsh's Fed Chair Hearing Eyes Mid-April—But Will the Paperwork HODL?

Kevin Warsh's Senate Banking Committee hearing for Fed chair could happen as soon as the week of April 13, according to Punchbowl News sources. The date remains 'fluid' and hinges on Warsh getting all his paperwork submitted to the committee. Nothing says "welcome to monetary policy" like waiting on bureaucratic paperwork—though in DeFi we call that gas fees and we complain about it anyway.

Current Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term ends May 15, but he's said he'll stay until his successor is confirmed. A mid-April hearing would give Warsh a clearer path to the top spot. Think of it as Powell playing the ultimate bag holder—refusing to leave until someone else takes the hot seat. Very based, honestly.

Warsh previously served on the Fed Board from 2006 to 2011, appointed by George W. Bush. Now 55, he's angling for the top job and has made no secret of wanting 'regime change' in how the Fed handles interest rates and its balance sheet. Yes, the same Warsh who was there for the 2008 crash—nothing like survivor's bias meets ambition.

'Their hesitancy to cut rates is quite a mark against them,' Warsh told CNBC last year. 'We need regime change in the conduct of policy.' Nothing says "I learned from history" like demanding the exact opposite of what got us here. Classic reversal narrative—bullish on chaos, apparently.

But it's not all smooth sailing. Senator Thom Tillis is refusing to vote for any Fed nominees until a DOJ investigation into Powell over office building renovation expenses gets resolved. Yes, you read that right—office renovations. Nothing says "financial crisis" like marble countertops and who knows what else. This is the kind of FUD that makes 2008 look like a rounding error.

And Senator Elizabeth Warren unloaded on Warsh in a scathing letter, accusing him of learning 'nothing' from his previous Fed stint—which conveniently included the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession. 'Your eagerness to bail out Wall Street... was not surprising, given the seven years you spent as a Morgan Stanley M&A executive,' Warren wrote, adding that Warsh would be a 'rubber stamp for President Trump's Wall Street First Agenda.' Ouch. Nothing like a Harvard professor calling you out with receipts. This is what happens when you don't rug pull carefully enough.