Donald Trump lands in Beijing; Iran negotiations on the table; New head of US Federal Reserve sworn in

The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh. In doing so, he brings new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a tense time for the global economy.

Warsh was confirmed overnight in a largely party-line vote. His nomination was cast into doubt in recent months after Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he would block the nomination while the Justice Department investigated Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The Powell investigation was dropped in April, clearing the way for the Senate to confirm Warsh.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, urged his colleagues to support Warsh. He said it is critical that a Fed chairman “not only understands the macro” but also “appreciates the microeconomics: and that is the hardworking Americans, their jobs and their livelihoods.”

“Kevin Warsh is one of those guys,” Thune said.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, will become chairman at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency.

Inflation has been above the Fed’s 2 percent target for five years and is now rising faster due to surging gas prices. The Fed’s rate-setting committee is divided and last month saw its most dissenting votes in more than three decades.

And Powell, after years of personal attacks from the Republican president and an unprecedented legal investigation by the Justice Department, plans to remain on the Fed board even after his term as chairman ends, potentially creating a competing power center.

The Fed has faced numerous threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting rates. Trump also tried to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into Powell’s brief Senate testimony about building renovations.