Potential Powell successor pushes ‘regime change' at the Fed

NBC News

6 days ago

Former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, reportedly on President Donald Trump's short list to lead the institution, called Thursday for sweeping changes on how the central bank conducts business and suggested a policy alliance with the Treasury Department.
'We need regime change in the conduct of policy,' Warsh said during an interview on CNBC's ' Squawk Box.' 'The credibility deficit lies with the incumbents that are at the Fed, in my view.'
Principal among those holdover officials is Chair Jerome Powell, who repeatedly has incurred Trump's wrath and is certain not to be reappointed when his term expires in May 2026, if attempts aren't made to remove him before then.
Warsh is considered one of three or four finalists to take over, and he expressed multiple sentiments in line with what Trump wants from the Fed. The president has demanded the Fed to cut its benchmark overnight borrowing rate and has urged Powell to resign for not pushing for cuts.
Warsh's comments indicate he could be at loggerheads not only with the way Powell has led the Fed, but also with holdover members who would be in place should he be put at the organization's helm.
'Their hesitancy to cut rates, I think, is actually quite a quite a mark against them,' Warsh said. 'The specter of the miss they made on inflation, it has stuck with them. So one of the reasons why the President, I think, is right to be pushing the Fed publicly is we need regime change in the conduct of policy.'
In the latest drama surrounding the Fed and its embattled chair, a Trump administration official on Wednesday confirmed that the president met with Republican lawmakers the previous day and discussed Trump firing Powell. The official said Trump planned to do so soon, but he denied that shortly after.
In addition to the rates issue, White House officials have criticized Powell over a multi-billion dollar renovation program at two of the Fed's buildings in Washington, D.C.
Asked whether Trump should try to fire Powell, Warsh said, 'I think regime change at the Fed will happen in due course.'
Trump's main stated reason in pushing for rate cuts has been to help lower financing costs on the nation's $36 trillion deb, which ostensibly out of the Fed's twin goals of low unemployment and stable prices.
However, Warsh seemed to take the issue a step further and suggested a coordination between the Fed and the Treasury Department in how the nation manages debt issuance.
'We need a new Treasury-Fed accord, like we did in 1951 after another period where we built up our nation's debt and we were stuck with a central bank that was working at cross purposes with the Treasury. That's the state of things now,' he said. 'So if we have a new accord, then the .. Fed chair and the Treasury secretary can describe to markets plainly and with deliberation, 'This is our objective for the size of the Fed's balance sheet.''
The Fed is currently shrinking its balance sheet by allowing proceeds from maturing debt to roll off, rather than being reinvested as usual. Warsh generally supports the idea, known as quantitative tightening, but recently asserted that the Fed ought to be working with Treasury to help lower borrowing costs.
'I think the Fed has the balance wrong. A rate cut is the beginning of the process to get the balance right,' he said.
However, the last time the Fed cut rates, Treasury yields actually rose.
Markets expect the Fed to hold its benchmark funds rate steady at its policy meeting in late July, then possibly start cutting in September.