The Federal Reserve held rates steady today as expected, but it was a significant day for the central bank as it transitions to new leadership.

Kevin Warsh, President Trump's pick for Fed Chair, was confirmed in a Senate committee vote, clearing the way for a full Senate vote in mid-May.

The central bank's current head, Jerome Powell, stated that he will step aside when his term as chair ends May 15th, but he'll remain on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Powell made clear today he was staying on to make sure that a probe into the Fed headquarters renovations launched by the Trump administration is, quote, well and truly over. He also addressed the persistent attacks from the president himself.

I've never suggested that such verbal criticism is a problem and neither has anyone else here.

But these legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113-year history,

and there are ongoing threats of additional such actions.

I worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk the thing that really matters to the public,

which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political factors.

David Wessel of the Brookings Institution is tracking all of this as usual and joins me now. It's good to see you. Good to see you. So Powell's decision to stay on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors even after his chairmanship ends. How unusual is that? It's unusual. The last time it happened was in 1948 when Mariner Eccles term as chairman was up. But at that time, President Truman asked Eccles to stay on the board.

That's the only time this happened before. It's pretty unusual. And as you said, it's because he says,

I'm staying until this criminal investigation of me and the building ends. You want me off the Federal

Reserve Board? Finish the investigation. So what is your sense of when he might feel satisfied that things, as he puts it, things have

calmed down, that he can step down? Well, the U.S. attorney has said that she's waiting for a report

by the Fed's Inspector General, which actually is something that Powell himself initiated several

months ago. My guess is that for the next few months, Powell will stay there.

He says he's going to keep a low profile, and that sometime later this year, the IG will report,

and the IG will say, that it wasn't well managed, but there were no criminal charges,

or no criminal wrongdoing, and at that point, Powell will go. That's my guess.

So let's turn now to his likely successor here, Kevin Warr. She cleared the Senate Banking Committee

vote today. He did face a lot of questions in his confirmation hearings about his independence

from President Trump, if he's fully confirmed. Is there any reason to believe that he won't

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