The Fed doesn’t conduct Spring Training like major league baseball, but a new team is being assembled there nevertheless.
Kevin Warsh was sworn in Friday as the newest governor at the Federal Reserve, where he’ll have a role in setting interest rates and shaping policies that affect the nation’s financial and economic landscape.
Vice President Dick Cheney administered the oath of office to Warsh in the vice president’s ceremonial office in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the Federal Reserve said in a statement.
Tapped by President Bush for the Fed post in late January, Warsh, 35, is the newest member to the Federal Reserve. He previously had served as an economic assistant to Bush at the White House.
Warsh along with Randall Kroszner had been nominated by Bush and confirmed by the Senate to fill two open seats on the seven-member board.
Kroszner, an economics professor at the University of Chicago’s school of business, is expected to be sworn in to the Fed post next week, a Federal Reserve spokesperson said. Kroszner, 43, was wrapping up his affairs in Chicago prior to relocating to Washington.
Both Kroszner and Warsh are expected to participate in the Fed’s next meeting to consider interest rate policy on March 27-28. That session will be the first presided over by new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who took the helm on Feb. 1, following the retirement of Alan Greenspan.
Earlier this week, the Fed’s No. 2 official, Roger Ferguson, announced that he will leave April 28 after eight years at the central bank. Ferguson was appointed by President Clinton and reappointed by Bush.
That opening will offer Bush another opportunity to put his stamp on the institution.
Bush has either appointed — or in the case of Ferguson, reappointed — each of the Fed’s members.
The Federal Reserve determines the course of interest rates,which affects investors large and small. It also is responsible for making sure the nation’s financial system remains safe and sound.