Warren, Schumer Press Kevin Warsh On Whether Trump Demanded Loyalty Pledge Before Fed Nomination
“A willingness to exercise independent judgment in the best interest of American families and to refuse to serve as President Trump’s sock puppet is a bare minimum qualification for the job of Fed Chair”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), sent a letter to President Trump’s Federal Reserve Chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, questioning whether the President pushed him, implicitly or explicitly, to serve as his loyal Chair on the Board.
“We seek to understand the extent to which President Trump – who has stated that ‘anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman’ and bemoaned potential ‘disloyalty’ amongst appointees – demanded, either implicitly or explicitly, that you do his bidding as a condition of your appointment.” wrote the Senators.
“President Trump appears to have concluded that you pass his loyalty test. The President reportedly asked you whether he ‘could trust (you) to support interest-rate cuts if (you) were chosen to lead the central bank’ and you ‘indicated to the president’ that you would ‘support lowering rates.’ You apparently “told the president exactly what he wanted to hear.”’ wrote the Senators.
The Senators concluded: “President Trump also made it clear that ‘(i)f (Warsh) came in and said, ‘I want to raise (rates),’ he would not have gotten the job, no.’ This was a drastic departure from your 2017 interview with President Trump to be Fed Chair during his first term, when you had ‘staked out a position as a(n inflation) hawk.’”
The Senators requested answers to the following questions, ahead of any nomination proceedings, by no later than February 26, 2026:
- Has any Trump Administration official, or individual associated with President Trump in the context of vetting you for a role in the Administration, at any time, sought assurances of your loyalty to the President? If so, how?
- Has any Trump Administration official or individual associated with President Trump in the context of vetting you for a role in the Administration, at any time:
- Asked you to sign a loyalty pledge or other similar oath? If so, did you sign it?
- Asked you who you voted for in the 2016, 2020, or 2024 elections?
- Is the Wall Street Journal’s reporting that President Trump asked you if he could trust you to lower interest rates if appointed as Fed Chair accurate?
- If so, is it also accurate that you indicated to the President that you would support lowering rates?
- What exactly did he say, and how exactly did you respond?
- Did President Trump ask you or attempt to confirm in any conversation if you would change your views if you were confirmed as Fed Chair?
- How did your 2017 interview differ from your interviews in recent months? Did you “put (your) ambitions ahead of (your) principles” this time.
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