Trump Formally Submits Bitcoin-Friendly Fed Chair Pick to Senate for Confirmation
Following his initial Jan. 30 social media announcement, the President has officially submitted Kevin Warsh's nomination to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair.
Donald Trump has officially submitted his Federal Reserve leadership nomination to the US Senate, tapping Kevin Warsh—a nominee with publicly stated favorable views on Bitcoin—to take over from current Fed chair Jerome Powell.
According to a notice released by the White House on Wednesday, Trump forwarded Warsh's nomination to the Senate for consideration as chair of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors for a four-year term, along with a nomination for a 14-year term as a Fed governor. This formal submission follows Trump's earlier social media announcement naming Warsh as his chosen successor to Powell, whose chairmanship concludes in May, though he retains the option to continue serving as a Fed governor through 2028.
Between 2006 and 2011, Warsh held a position as a Federal Reserve governor during the administrations of former US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Following his departure from the Fed, he assumed a role as a Shepard Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Economics at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
The potential Fed chair has articulated numerous public positions supporting Bitcoin (BTC) adoption over the years. During a January 2021 appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, he remarked "if Bitcoin never existed gold would be rallying even more right now, but I guess if you are under forty, bitcoin is your new gold." Speaking with the Hoover Institution in 2025, Warsh suggested the cryptocurrency "could provide market discipline, or [...] could tell the world that things need to be fixed."
Bitcoin does not make me nervous. I can hearken back to a dinner I had here in 2011 with [...] Marc Andreessen, who showed me the white paper [...] I wish I had understood as clearly as he did how transformative Bitcoin and this new technology would be. Bitcoin doesn't trouble me. I think of it as an important asset that can help inform policymakers when they're doing things right and wrong.
Kevin Warsh
The current chair Powell will see his term conclude on May 15, whereas his position as a Fed governor doesn't expire until Jan. 31, 2028. While Trump has made public threats in the past about dismissing the Fed chair, Powell is anticipated to serve out his complete term.
At the time this article was published, the timing for Senate consideration of Warsh's nomination remained uncertain, though he may encounter resistance from numerous Democratic lawmakers. In January, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that Republican lawmakers "must not move Mr. Warsh's nomination forward," citing Trump's efforts to "cannibalize the Federal Reserve to eliminate its independence."
[Warsh] must make clear that he would keep the Fed independent and free from Donald Trump's bullying, or else, he must not be confirmed.
Chuck Schumer
CFTC still lacks nominations for leadership
Despite Trump's official announcement of his Federal Reserve chair selection, the president had not forwarded any further nominations to the Senate for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) staffing positions as of Wednesday.
The CFTC currently operates with Michael Selig, who received Senate confirmation as CFTC chair in December, as its only leader at the financial regulator, which typically operates with five commissioners. Should a market structure bill currently progressing through the Senate be enacted into law, the agency is projected to receive expanded oversight and regulatory authority over digital assets.