Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM—Senators press Fed nominee Warsh on ‘evasive’ responses, (Apr 29, 2026)

By Sherri M. Schroeder, J.D.

Banking Committee Democrats label the “inadequate” responses “even more concerning” due to President Trump’s “repeated and continued attacks on the independence of the Fed.”

Members of the Senate Banking Committee have called to task Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s nominee for Federal Reserve Chair, for his “failure to adequately respond” to their questions for the record. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is the Ranking Member of the Committee, along with Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Md.), sent written questions for the record following Warsh’s Apr. 21, 2026, nomination hearing before the Committee. There were 128 questions from Senator Warren, along with another 80 questions from the other Committee members, questions deemed “critical” in helping the Committee to assess how Warsh would lead the Fed if confirmed. However, in their response letter to Warsh’s answers, the Committee members stated that Warsh failed to provide clear or complete responses to many of their questions. The Committee members therefore requested Warsh to once again submit “detailed, complete, and clear responses” to their questions of record no later than 9:30 a.m. on Apr. 29, 2026.

“Given President Trump’s repeated and continued attacks on the independence of the Fed, your ability to meaningfully answer direct questions from Congress is more important than ever, making your inadequate responses even more concerning,” wrote the Banking Committee members in their letter resending the questions.

In the Apr. 28, 2026, press release by the Senate Banking Committee on Warsh’s response, the Senators note that Warsh “pointedly” refused to answer whether he had signed a loyalty pledge to President Trump or whether the President had sought assurances of his loyalty. In addition, the press release notes that Warsh refused to answer questions on the attempts to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, the criminal probe of Chair Powell, or his role in the Wall Street bailouts during the financial crisis. The press release also notes that Warsh “yet again refused to provide one economic policy issue or even one policy issue across any policy area in which he disagreed with the President,” could not provide a yes or no response to whether President Trump lost the 2020 election, refused to provide details on his undisclosed assets, and did not rule out voting on any master account application submitted by World Liberty Financial, President Trump’s proposed national trust bank.

Some of Warsh’s more substantive answers to the Committee’s questions included the following:

• “If confirmed, I will focus on policy matters involving the Federal Reserve. As I stated during the hearing, ‘Fed independence is up to the Fed.’ Elected officials, including senators and presidents, have often stated their views on monetary policy. I firmly believe in the independence of the Federal Reserve on monetary policy, and if confirmed, will maintain strict independence.”

• “I would expect the Federal Reserve to be informed by lessons learned from its past conduct of supervision and regulation.”

• “Congress assigned a dual mandate to the Federal Reserve: to ensure price stability and maximum sustainable employment. I believe in reforms in the collection and interpretation of empirical data to inform and improve policy judgments.”

• “The supervisory and regulatory regime has long been in need of substantial reforms.”

• “If confirmed, I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that ‘stress-testing’ is reformed to ensure a safer and more sound banking system.”

• “Community banks and the small businesses they serve have been the most negatively impacted by the regulatory and supervision agenda of recent years.”

• “Competition is undermined when a privileged class of financial firms has the implicit support of the government. No firm ought to be entitled to favored consideration by regulators or government policy.”

• “Under the prior Administration, material shortcomings in supervision by the Federal Reserve and the other federal bank regulators led to the second, third, and fourth largest bank failures in history. Any decision to invoke the systemic risk exception should be based on the extant policy and specific facts and circumstances.”

• “The Federal Reserve must stay in its lane. Federal Reserve independence is placed at greatest risk when it strays into policies where it has neither authority nor expertise. If confirmed, I will ensure the Federal Reserve is focused on its congressionally mandated functions.”

• “The Federal Reserve is not blameless for the divergence between returns on financial assets and returns to the participants in the labor market, owing to the Federal Reserve’s continued use of quantitative easing long after the shocks of 2008 and 2020.”

• “Changes in the price levels can be attributable to a wide range of factors and events. Inflation, however, is up to the Fed.”

• “Congress tasked the Federal Reserve with the mission to ensure price stability, without excuse or equivocation, argument or anguish. Inflation is a choice, and the Fed must take responsibility for it.”

• “The Federal Reserve has two primary monetary policy tools: interest rates and the balance sheet. I believe that interest rates should be the primary tool in the conduct of monetary policy. A permanently large and growing balance sheet encroaches on fiscal policy.”

• “I do not generally believe the Federal Reserve should offer forward guidance as currently practiced.”

MainStory: TopStory DirectorsOfficersEmployers FederalReserveSystem GCNNews