Kevin Warsh Pledges Independence But Dodges Questions on Rates | Bloomberg Businessweek

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Kevin Warsh repeatedly pledged to act independently if he’s confirmed as the next Federal Reserve chair, rejecting Democratic concerns he would be a “sock puppet” for President Donald Trump, who continues to demand lower interest rates.

Warsh, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday, called for a slew of changes to the way the US central bank makes its decisions, including a new framework for dealing with persistent inflation and a new way of communicating with the public. But he provided few specifics and avoided answering questions about the near-term path of interest rates.

He also insisted the president never asked him to commit to any particular rate decision.“The president nominated me for the position, and I’ll be an independent actor if confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve,” Warsh said, in response to questions from Democrats about how he planned to handle pressure from Trump.

In her opening remarks, the senior Democrat on the panel, Senator Elizabeth Warren said Warsh would be Trump’s “sock puppet” at the Fed.

“Kevin Warsh hit all the right notes to reassure his supporters on the committee that he will push forward his idea of regime change at the Fed,” Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. “He said nothing that will disrupt his path to being approved, if it makes it to the floor of the Senate.”

Treasuries fell as strong economic data and higher oil prices prompted traders to scale back rate-cut expectations, overshadowing testimony from Warsh. The policy-sensitive two-year note climbed as much as seven basis points to 3.79% as US crude oil rose back above $90 a barrel.

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