Fed mouthpiece: Trump's overhaul of the Fed meets its strongest check

Democrats winning the Senate in the U.S. midterms has handed President Trump his strongest institutional check yet on reshaping the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal's Nick Timiraos wrote, even though Trump's pick Kevin Warsh can still be confirmed as Fed chair. Trump has filled three of the seven Board seats, but with Democrats controlling confirmation, his path to a fourth ally has narrowed sharply—especially for the seat now held by Jerome Powell through January 2028 and for Lisa Cook's contested seat, where a December hearing is scheduled after the Supreme Court let her stay. Democrats have unanimously or near-unanimously opposed recent Trump Fed nominees, including Michelle Bowman, Stephen Miran and Warsh, and Trump-appointed officials hold only three of the 12 FOMC votes as inflation concerns push the committee toward hikes rather than the cuts Trump wants. The Senate will also have a say over the vice chair replacing Philip Jefferson next September, complicating Warsh's plans to overhaul Fed communications, forecasting and balance-sheet management, which may now depend on persuading sitting governors rather than installing his own team. Watch whether Powell or other governors leave early, and whether Bowman's bank-capital and payment-system agenda needs Democratic-appointed votes to pass.