Trump calls rate questions on Fed nominee Warsh inappropriate, confident on cuts

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday it would be inappropriate to ask Kevin Warsh, his nominee to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, whether he ?would cut interest rates, but added he was confident Warsh was ?inclined to lower borrowing costs.

Trump said he wasn't too ?worried about the Senate confirmation process for ?his nominee ?or a vow by Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, ?to block the confirmation of ?any Federal Reserve nominee until a Justice Department investigation of inquiry into the current ?Fed chair, Jerome Powell, is "fully ?and ?transparently resolved."

"If he doesn't approve, we just have to wait until somebody comes in that will approve ?it," Trump told reporters. "I saw that; he wants to be an obstructionist."

Tillis, who is not running for re-election in 2026, sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which is in charge of Fed confirmations. The ?committee ?has a narrow 13-11 Republican majority, so losing just one vote could hold up the process ?of getting the nomination before the full Senate, where Republicans have just a three-vote majority.

Trump said it would probably be inappropriate to ask Warsh about his specific plans for interest rates, adding, "I want to keep it nice and pure". ?But he said Warsh had said he favored rate cuts, adding, "He's going to want to do the same thing."

(Reporting By Andra Shalal ?and Jarrett Renshaw, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama )