Kevin Warsh, fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference on May 8, 2017 in New York City, US.
Brendan McDiarmid | reuters
The expected nomination hearing for Federal Reserve chair candidate Kevin Wersh has been delayed, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Warsh was scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking Committee on April 16. That won’t happen, but the hearing is still expected to happen soon, the person said, requesting anonymity because details have not been made public by the committee.
As per the committee’s rules, it must give a week’s notice before the hearing is held and must first collect paperwork, including financial disclosures, from the nominee. Three people familiar with the Senate process said the banking committee has not yet received Warsh’s paperwork.
The committee has not formally informed about the hearing. The last date to do so is Thursday.
Warsh’s financial situation may be particularly complicated. He is married to Astor Lauder heiress Jane Lauder, whose net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Financial disclosures filed in 2006 when Warsh was nominated for his first term at the Fed listed about 1,200 assets, most of which were held by his wife. Since leaving the Fed in 2011, he has spent 15 years working for the family office of investor Stanley Druckenmiller, where he led venture investments in tech firms including Palantir.
President Donald Trump announced Wersch’s nomination in January to succeed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term as the Fed’s top official ends on May 15.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday that he has “high confidence” that Wersch will be in place by the end of Powell’s term as chairman.
While the Trump administration appears confident about Warsh’s confirmation, it will be difficult for him to move forward with hearings unless Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., supports his opposition. Tillis is refusing to vote for any Fed nominee until the Justice Department closes the criminal investigation against Powell. Tillis and Powell have called that investigation a political campaign to undermine the Fed’s independence.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, told CNBC on Wednesday that she plans to pursue the investigation. This obscures Warsh’s path beyond listening.
Punchbowl previously reported on the delay in Warsh’s hearing.
