Federal Reserve Watch for May 22: Warsh Sworn-In as Fed Chair, Says Will Lead Reform-Minded Fed

02:22 PM EDT, 05/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Newly Sworn-In Fed Chair Kevin Warsh (voter) was sworn in, saying that he intends to be reform-oriented and abandoning old models that were not serving the Fed's mission.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voter) suggested that the Fed's policy rate could remain on hold for some time, indicating that the risks are tilting back toward inflation. Waller also said that a rate increase is possible if inflation remains high rather than comes back down.

Recent comments of note:

(May 21) Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin (nonvoter) said that he expects supply shortages and economic uncertainty due to the Middle East conflict could eventually have an impact on consumer spending but said that so far consumers are seeing higher prices as temporary.

(May 20): Minutes of the April 28-29 FOMC meeting showed that a majority of participants appear to be leaning away from certain rate cuts in the near future and are open to the possibly of rate increases. Many participants, not just the three voters that dissented, wanted a change to the post meeting statement to reflect that possibility.

(May 19) Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson (voter) said she sees the current stance of monetary policy as appropriate but suggested that rate hikes may be needed this year if inflation remains elevated.

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