Trump’s Fed chair pick takes a procedural step forward as Powell’s May 15 deadline approaches

Trump’s Federal Reserve chairman nominee Kevin Warsh has on Monday filed the financial paperwork the Senate needs before his nomination can keep going, according to CNBC.

Reportedly, that filing had been holding things up, as a hearing that had been expected this week could not happen because the paperwork was not finished on time.

Kevin’s nomination is still uncertain as Senate process drags into Powell’s deadline

As you must know, Jerome Powell’s term as Fed chair ends on May 15, and the Trump administration said last week it expects Kevin to be in place by then.

Cryptopolitan has previously reported that Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina (who also sits on the Senate Banking Committee) is determined to block the final approval of Kevin’s nomination until a federal criminal case tied to Jerome is settled.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has said she plans to keep pushing the case despite setbacks that have already hit it, but Trump wants a quick handoff at the Fed.

Stephen Miran, a Federal Reserve governor appointed by Trump, said the energy shock from the Iran war has not changed longer-run inflation expectations. Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, Stephen said, “There’s thus far no evidence that inflation expectations are higher.” He also said the labor market has been cooling little by little for about three years, which in his view makes a wage-price spiral unlikely.

Stephen also said price jumps tied to energy often hit fast and then fade, which can limit the wider inflation effect. He said, “We look forward a year from now, I see inflation running pretty close to our target.”

That is a much calmer view than the one shown in the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s March 17-18 meeting, which showed more officials getting worried that the Iran war could push inflation higher and force the Fed to think about rate hikes.

Miran is playing down the threat of inflation on the Fed’s mandate

At that March meeting, officials left the Fed’s benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. Stephen broke with the group and pushed for a quarter-point cut instead. Since Donald Trump appointed him to the board last September, Stephen has been calling for faster cuts than the rest of the committee has wanted.

Stephen was also asked about a proposal that would let stablecoin issuers pay interest to users, an idea with support from parts of the Trump administration but some banking groups hate it because they think depositors could pull money out of banks and park it in dollar-linked crypto products instead.

Stephen did not sound worried when he said, “I don’t view it as such a big deal, to be honest.” He added that some money could leave banks for stablecoins, but he does not think the scale would be big enough to seriously matter for the economy.

Then came Jimmy Cramer’s take, which was all about rates, energy, and stocks. Jimmy said that if rates do not start climbing again, the next Fed under Kevin probably will not raise short-term rates and might even end up cutting them.

He argued that oil is still adding to inflation, but the country is not as exposed to that shock as it used to be. Cars are more fuel efficient now. Domestic natural gas is also much cheaper in the United States than it is in many other places. Jimmy put it this way: “Natural gas not oil is our secret weapon.”

Jimmy also said recent inflation tied to tariffs and energy may be treated by the Fed as temporary. He said, “The Fed will most likely asterisk these increases as all one-off price increases.”

For investors, Jimmy’s main point was that rates still matter more than geopolitics when it comes to stock prices. When rates rise, investors usually pay less for future earnings. That is how price-to-earnings multiple compression starts biting.

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