Source: Jinshi Data

According to a White House official, President Trump will personally preside over the swearing-in ceremony for the incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh on Friday at the White House. Warsh will become the 17th chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell, and will also be the richest Federal Reserve chairman in history.

The ceremony held at the White House highlights Trump's highly personal attention to this appointment. In contrast, Trump nominated Powell to lead the Federal Reserve during his first term in 2018, at which time Powell was sworn in at the Federal Reserve, and Trump did not attend.

The last new Federal Reserve chairman to be sworn in at the White House was Alan Greenspan in 1987. In recent years, the Federal Reserve chairman's swearing-in ceremonies have been held within the Federal Reserve.

The last president to attend such a ceremony was George W. Bush, who participated in Ben Bernanke's swearing-in in 2006, when Bernanke was the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Later that same year, Warsh was sworn in as a Federal Reserve governor by then-Vice President Dick Cheney at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Friday's ceremony will mark the end of an unusually long transition period for the Federal Reserve leadership. The Federal Reserve stated last week that Powell will remain as acting chair until Warsh, who was confirmed by the Senate for a four-year term last week, completes the swearing-in.

Powell's four-year term as Federal Reserve chairman expired last weekend. Powell has indicated that he plans to continue serving on the Federal Reserve Board as a governor for a period of time, but has not specified how long. His term as governor will last until January 2028.

It is not uncommon for there to be delays of several days between confirmation and swearing-in. Warsh had previously agreed to divest certain personal investments before taking office.

Warsh will take over the Federal Reserve at a complicated time. The US-Iran war has intensified inflationary pressures, complicating the policy outlook for the Federal Reserve, and Warsh's critics are concerned about whether he can remain sufficiently independent from the White House.

Trump has stated that he expects Warsh to cut interest rates soon. Warsh pledged to act independently during his Senate confirmation hearing but also harshly criticized the central bank's performance in recent years.

As the transition period continues, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson will represent the central bank at the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Paris on Monday.