The Big Picture: Kevin Warsh was confirmed as Chair of the Federal Reserve on May 13 after a lengthy and contentious confirmation process.
How We Got Here: Trump nominated Warsh in January 2026. The confirmation stalled when Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blocked a committee vote to protest a DOJ probe into Jerome Powell. The logjam broke when the U.S. attorney agreed to drop the probe, Tillis dropped his objections, and Warsh's nomination advanced.
The Vote: The Senate confirmed Warsh by a vote of 54-45, the most partisan vote for a Fed chair nominee in history. Only Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman crossed the aisle to support the nomination. Powell will remain on the Fed's Board of Governors, where he has two years left in his term as governor.
What Warsh Has Said: Warsh has signaled meaningful stylistic and substantive departures from the Powell era. His stated priorities include fighting inflation first, streamlining Fed communications, and narrowing the central bank's overall focus.
What's Next: Warsh's first meeting as Fed chair is scheduled for June 16th. His early communications in the weeks ahead will be closely watched for signals on how aggressively he intends to reshape the Fed's inflation framework.
The Big Picture: On April 30, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding retirement access for the roughly 56 million Americans without employer-sponsored retirement plans.
What the Order Does: The order directs Treasury to create TrumpIRA.gov, a platform where workers can compare and enroll in low-cost private-sector IRAs. The accounts will also connect to the Saver's Match program, which offers eligible low-income workers up to a $1,000 federal retirement contribution match.
Why It Matters: The initiative is designed to expand retirement savings access for gig workers, part-time employees, and others who have historically lacked workplace retirement options.
What's Next: TrumpIRA.gov is slated to go live January 1, 2027, alongside the Saver's Match. The administration has indicated it will direct the Treasury to promote the match and engage private-sector financial institutions to participate.
The Big Picture: Both the House and Senate have advanced bipartisan housing legislation aimed at increasing housing supply, improving affordability, and modernizing federal housing programs. While each chamber has passed its own package, Congress must ultimately agree on the same bill before any legislation can be signed into law. The House has now passed another bill in an attempt to reach a resolution on this policy issue.
What the Bill Does: The proposals would expand affordable housing financing, reduce construction barriers, improve housing assistance programs, and encourage development to support renters and first-time homebuyers.
The Sticking Point: One of the biggest areas of negotiation has centered on the role of institutional investors in the single-family housing market. Earlier Senate language included stricter limitations that drew concern from some House lawmakers and industry groups, particularly around potential impacts on build-to-rent housing development. The bill that just passed the House includes revised language that narrows some of those restrictions while keeping broader investor oversight measures in place.
What's Next: Now that the House has passed a revised bill, lawmakers in both chambers still need to reconcile differences between the two versions before sending final legislation to the President's desk