特朗普提名美联储前理事沃什接替鲍威尔，出任下一任美联储主席

【中美创新时报2026年1月30日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）特朗普总统周五表示，他将提名美联储前官员凯文·沃什担任美联储下一任主席，这一决定可能会给这个强大的机构带来巨大变化，并使其与白宫的关系更加密切。美联社记者克里斯托弗·鲁加伯对此作了下述报道。

沃什将在现任​​主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔5月任期届满后接任。特朗普在2017年选择鲍威尔领导美联储，但今年以来一直猛烈抨击他降息速度不够快。

“我认识凯文很久了，我毫不怀疑他会成为美联储历史上最伟大的主席之一，甚至可能是最伟大的，”特朗普在社交媒体上发帖说。“除此之外，他简直就是‘完美人选’，他永远不会让你们失望。”

这项任命尚需参议院确认，对于现年55岁的沃什来说，这相当于重返美联储理事会。他曾在2006年至2011年担任美联储理事，35岁时被任命为美联储理事，是历史上最年轻的理事。他目前是右倾智库胡佛研究所的研究员，也是斯坦福商学院的讲师。

从某种程度上来说，沃什不太可能成为这位共和党总统的合适人选，因为用美联储的话来说，他长期以来都是鹰派，或者说他通常支持提高利率以控制通胀。相比之下，特朗普曾表示，美联储的关键利率应该低至1%，而很少有经济学家赞同这一水平，更远低于目前约3.6%的利率水平。

沃什担任美联储理事期间，曾反对美联储在2008-09年大衰退期间及之后推行的一些低利率政策。当时他也经常表达对通胀即将加速的担忧，尽管在那场衰退结束后，通胀率在很多年里都保持在极低水平。

然而，最近沃什在演讲和专栏文章中表达了对降低利率的支持。

早期反应

金融市场的反应表明，投资者预期沃什可能会在未来一段时间内维持利率略高。美元和美国长期国债收益率均有所上涨，尽管涨幅有所放缓。10年期国债收益率升至4.26%，高于周四的4.23%。美国股指期货下跌约0.5%。波动最大的当属金属市场，黄金价格下跌超过5%，白银价格下跌超过13%。

在国会，即将退休的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯在社交媒体上重申，在司法部对鲍威尔的调查结束之前，他将反对沃什的提名。

蒂利斯是参议院委员会成员，该委员会将审议沃什的提名。

他补充说，沃什是一位“合格的提名人”，但强调“保护美联储的独立性免受政治干预或法律恐吓是不可谈判的”。

蒂利斯的反对可能会使确认程序复杂化。周四晚些时候，当被问及如果没有蒂利斯的支持，沃什是否还能获得确认时，参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩表示，“可能不会”。

马萨诸塞州民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦是该委员会级别最高的民主党人，她说：“这项提名是特朗普试图控制美联储的最新一步。”

沃什击败了其他几位候选人，其中包括特朗普的首席经济顾问凯文·哈塞特、投资经理里克·里德和现任美联储理事克里斯托弗·沃勒。

控制美联储

沃什的任命可能是特朗普加强对美联储控制权的重要一步，美联储是为数不多的几个仍然独立的联邦机构之一。虽然历任总统都会通过人事任命影响美联储的政策，但特朗普对美联储的言辞攻击引发了人们对其独立地位的担忧。

此前，美联储主席一职的遴选过程漫长且异常公开，凸显了特朗普对该决定的重视程度及其对经济的潜在影响。美联储主席是世界上最具影响力的经济官员之一，其职责是抑制美国的通货膨胀，同时支持充分就业。美联储也是美国最高级别的银行业监管机构。

美联储的利率决策会随着时间的推移影响整个经济的借贷成本，包括抵押贷款、汽车贷款和信用卡。

目前来看，沃什很可能会填补美联储理事会的一个席位，该席位此前由白宫顾问斯蒂芬·米兰暂时担任，米兰是特朗普在9月份任命的。一旦沃什进入理事会，特朗普就可以在鲍威尔5月份任期结束后，提拔他担任主席一职。

特朗普一直试图加强对美联储的控制。今年8月，他试图解雇美联储七位理事之一的丽莎·库克，以确保自己掌控理事会多数席位。然而，库克提起诉讼，力图保住自己的职位。上周，最高法院在听证会上似乎倾向于允许她在诉讼解决期间继续留任。

鲍威尔本月透露，美国司法部已就他此前在国会就一项价值25亿美元的建筑翻新工程作证一事向美联储发出传票。鲍威尔称，这些传票是迫使美联储降息的“借口”。

特朗普的经济政策

尽管沃什此前一直是一位较为传统的、支持自由贸易的共和党人，但自特朗普连任以来，他已表示支持总统的经济政策。

沃什在2025年1月发表于《华尔街日报》的一篇专栏文章中，赞扬了特朗普的放松管制政策和潜在的支出削减措施，他认为这些措施将有助于降低通胀。较低的通胀将使美联储能够兑现总统所希望的降息承诺。

特朗普曾表示，他将任命一位美联储主席来降低利率，以降低政府的借贷成本并降低抵押贷款利率，尽管美联储并不直接决定这些成本。

去年12月，他在社交媒体上发文表示需要降低借贷成本，并说道：“任何不同意我观点的人都永远当不上美联储主席！”

潜在挑战和阻力

如果获得参议院确认，沃什在大幅降低利率方面将面临挑战。美联储主席只是其19人利率决策委员会的成员之一，而每次利率决议都有12名成员参与投票。委员会内部目前已存在分歧：一部分人担忧持续通胀，希望维持利率不变；另一部分人则认为，近期失业率上升表明经济步履蹒跚，需要降低利率来刺激就业。

金融市场也可能做出反弹。如果美联储过度降息，且被认为出于政治目的，那么华尔街投资者可能会出于对通胀上升的担忧而抛售国债。这种抛售会推高长期利率，包括抵押贷款利率，从而对沃什产生不利影响。

特朗普在其第一任期内曾考虑任命沃什为美联储主席，但最终他选择了鲍威尔。沃什的岳父是雅诗兰黛化妆品公司继承人罗纳德·劳德，他也是特朗普的长期捐助者和密友。

近年来，沃什对美联储进行了严厉的批评，呼吁“政权更迭”，并抨击鲍威尔参与气候变化、多样性、公平和包容等问题，沃什称这些问题超出了美联储的职权范围。

他较为批判的态度表明，如果他真的升任主席一职，美联储将迎来一次剧烈的变革。

沃什在7月接受CNBC采访时表示，美联储的政策“已经失效很长时间了”。

他补充道：“如今的美联储与我2006年加入时的美联储已截然不同。”美联储放任通胀在2021-2022年飙升，“犯下了45年来宏观经济政策上的最大错误，导致国家分裂。”

题图：凯文·沃什。蒂尔尼·L·克罗斯/摄影师：蒂尔尼·L·克罗斯/B

附原英文报道：

Trump names former Federal Reserve governor Warsh as the next Fed chair, succeeding Powell

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER The Associated Press,Updated January 30, 2026

Kevin Warsh.Tierney L. Cross/Photographer: Tierney L. Cross/B

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Trump said Friday that he will nominate former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Fed, a decision likely to result in sharp changes to the powerful agency that could bring it closer to the White House.

Warsh would replace current chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. Trump chose Powell to lead the Fed in 2017 but this year has relentlessly assailed him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough.

“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump posted on social media. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”

The appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, amounts to a return trip for Warsh, 55, who was a member of the Fed’s board from 2006 to 2011. He was the youngest governor in history when he was appointed at age 35. He is currently a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In some ways, Warsh is an unlikely choice for the Republican president because he has long been a hawk in Fed parlance, or someone who typically supports higher interest rates to control inflation. Trump, by contrast, has said the Fed’s key rate should be as low as 1%, a level few economists endorse, and far below its current level of about 3.6%.

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During his time as governor, Warsh objected to some of the low-interest rate policies that the Fed pursued during and after the 2008-09 Great Recession. He also often expressed concern at that time that inflation would soon accelerate, even though it remained at rock-bottom levels for many years after that recession ended.

More recently, however, in speeches and opinion columns, Warsh has voiced support for lower rates.

Early reaction

Financial markets reacted in ways that suggest investors expect Warsh could keep rates a bit higher over time. The dollar and yields on long-term U.S. Treasurys rose, although that moderated a bit. The 10-year yield is at 4.26%, up from 4.23% Thursday. U.S. stock futures saw losses of around 0.5%. The biggest moves were in the suddenly volatile metals markets, where gold dropped more than 5% and silver sank more than 13%.

In Congress, Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is retiring, reiterated in a social media post that he will oppose Warsh’s nomination until a Justice Department investigation into Powell is resolved.

Tillis is on the Senate committee that will consider Warsh’s nomination.

He added that Warsh is a “qualified nominee,” but stressed that “protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.”

Tillis’s opposition could complicate the confirmation process. Asked late Thursday whether Warsh could be confirmed without Tillis’s support, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “probably not.”

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, said, “This nomination is the latest step in Trump’s attempt to seize control of the Fed.”

Warsh beat out several other candidates, including Trump’s top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, investment manager Rick Rieder, and current Fed governor Christopher Waller.

Controlling the Fed

Warsh’s appointment could be a major step toward Trump asserting more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining independent federal agencies. While all presidents influence Fed policy through appointments, Trump’s rhetorical attacks on the central bank have raised concerns about its status as an independent institution.

The announcement comes after an extended and unusually public search that underscored the importance of the decision to Trump and the potential impact it could have on the economy. The chair of the Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful economic officials in the world, tasked with combating inflation in the United States while also supporting maximum employment. The Fed is also the nation’s top banking regulator.

The Fed’s rate decisions, over time, influence borrowing costs throughout the economy, including for mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

For now, Warsh would likely fill a seat on the Fed’s governing board that was temporarily occupied by Stephen Miran, a White House adviser who Trump appointed in September. Once on the board, Trump could then elevate Warsh to the chair position when Powell’s term ends in May.

Trump has sought to exert more control over the Fed. In August he tried to fire Lisa Cook, one of seven governors on the Fed’s board, in an effort to secure a majority of the board. Cook, however, sued to keep her job, and the Supreme Court, in a hearing last week, appeared inclined to let her stay in her position while her suit is resolved.

Powell revealed this month that the Fed had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department about his congressional testimony on a $2.5 billion building renovation. Powell said the subpoenas were “pretexts” to force the Fed to cut rates.

Trump’s economic policies

Since Trump’s reelection, Warsh has expressed support for the president’s economic policies, despite a history as a more conventional, pro-free trade Republican.

In a January 2025 column in The Wall Street Journal, Warsh praised Trump’s deregulatory policies and potential spending cuts, which he said would help bring down inflation. Lower inflation would allow the Fed to deliver the rate cuts the president wants.

Trump had said he would appoint a Fed chair who will cut interest rates to lower the government’s borrowing costs and bring down mortgage rates, though the Fed doesn’t decide those costs directly.

In December, he wrote on social media of the need for lower borrowing costs and said, “Anyone who disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Potential challenges and pushback

If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would face challenges in pushing interest rates much lower. The chair is just one member of the Fed’s 19-person rate-setting committee, with 12 of those officials voting on each rate decision. The committee is already split between those worried about persistent inflation, who’d like to keep rates unchanged, and those who think that recent upticks in unemployment point to a stumbling economy that needs lower interest rates to bolster hiring.

Financial markets could also push back. If the Fed cuts its short-term rate too aggressively and is seen as doing so for political reasons, then Wall Street investors could sell Treasury bonds out of fear that inflation would rise. Such sales would push up longer-term interest rates, including mortgage rates, and backfire on Warsh.

Trump considered appointing Warsh as Fed chair during his first term, though ultimately he went with Powell. Warsh’s father-in-law is Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune and a longtime donor and confidant of Trump’s.

Warsh in recent years has become harshly critical of the Fed, calling for “regime change” and assailing Powell for engaging on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion, which Warsh said are outside the Fed’s mandate.

His more critical approach suggests that if he does ascend to the position of chair, it would amount to a sharp transition at the Fed.

In a July interview on CNBC, Warsh said Fed policy “has been broken for quite a long time.”

“The central bank that sits there today is radically different than the central bank I joined in 2006,” he added. By allowing inflation to surge in 2021-22, the Fed “brought about the greatest mistake in macroeconomic policy in 45 years, that divided the country.”