Key Moments from Kevin Warsh’s Swearing-In Ceremony
President Trump encouraged the new Fed chair to operate independently. Then he signaled what he’d like to see.
and Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2026
…
In introductory remarks, Trump briefly endorsed Fed independence, the notion that the central bank should be free from political influence when setting monetary policy.
But he quickly pivoted to arguments for why the Fed should view rising inflation as a one-off and keep rates lower to give the economy room to run…
Warsh said little that was specific about how he will approach the nuts and bolts of Fed policy in brief remarks following the swearing in. But he invoked Alan Greenspan, sworn in at the same spot in 1987, saying he would fill the role “with energy and purpose, just the way Chairman Greenspan did.”
He didn’t mention Ben Bernanke, the chair he actually served under for all five of his years as a governor, including during the 2008-09 financial crisis. The omission squares with Warsh’s reform agenda, which is largely about returning the Fed to the smaller, quieter institution it was before Bernanke grew its presence. [end quote]
Will the Fed really be a “smaller, quieter institution”? That implies reversing the recent QE that has been creeping up at the Fed.
And that implies higher long-term bond yields and a steeper yield curve if the fed fund rate is held constant or cut (despite inflation) under pressure by President Trump.
Wendy