By Michael S. Derby
Jan 30 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said in a television interview Friday that he assumes Kevin Warsh, nominated to succeed current Fed chair Jerome Powell, will likely fill his expiring term at the central bank.
Speaking on CNBC, Miran noted that his term, which ends on January 31, would be the only slot available for Warsh, himself a former Fed Governor, to take as part of the effort to install him as chair.
Warsh has been tapped to succeed Powell, whose chair term ends in May, while his governor term ends in 2028. There remains a possibility Powell will stay on the central bank to help provide a counterweight to ongoing pressure on the Fed by President Donald Trump.
Miran, who dissented in favor of an interest rate cut at this week’s policy meeting, said the likely speed of the confirmation process would leave him in place at the next rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
Miran expressed confidence that even as Warsh has aggressively criticized the Fed as part of his campaign to become its leader, he’ll be warmly received by the officials he has targeted.
Warsh has had “a long history of convincing people about his arguments, and so I think as a result, he’s going to be treated with a lot of respect,” Miran said. “I think people are going to find him very persuasive, because at the end of the day, I think a lot of his views are really right.”
Miran defended his dissenting vote at the Fed meeting by again arguing that inflation is not the issue it appears to be when you look at the headline numbers. “There is no inflation problem,” the policymaker said.
(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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