Trump says he would be disappointed if Warsh did not cut rates as Fed chair
Also in his interview with CNBC, Donald Trump said that he “would be” disappointed if Kevin Warsh, his nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, did not cut interest rates as soon as he took office after being confirmed by the Senate.
A reminder that Warsh is facing lawmakers today in a hearing, where he’ll face questions about his loyalty to the president and whether this would impact the central bank’s independence. Warsh is also facing pushback from one of the critical Republican votes on the Senate banking committee – Thom Tillis – who has refused to confirm any of Trump pick to lead the Fed as long as the criminal probe into Jerome Powell continues.
The president has remained resolute that “we have to find out” about the renovations of the new Federal Reserve building, which he has accused Powell of mismanaging, leading the justice department to investigate.
Key events
Hegseth says that Pentagon is ending flu vaccine requirement for service members
In a video posted to social media, Pete Hegseth signed an new policy ending the flu vaccine requirement for US service members.
The defense secretary said he was using this opportunity to “discard any overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capability”.
Medical experts note that the flu vaccine protects against three or four virus strains that cause influenza each year, and most severe cases of the virus are in unvaccinated individuals.
“The notion that a flu vaccine must be mandatory for every service member, everywhere, in every circumstance at all times, is just overly broad and not rational,” Hegseth said in the video posted to X today.
“If you, an American warrior, entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it,” he added. “But we will not force you, because your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”
Chris Stein
Nearly three months to the day after his term as Virginia’s governor ended, Republican Glenn Youngkin stood in an unshaded corner of an office parking lot to warn dozens of conservative activists that they were in the midst of “the most important election” in the commonwealth’s 237-year history.
The question before the voters casting ballots at an early voting precinct a few yards away in the city of Leesburg, ahead of Tuesday’s special election, was whether to temporarily set aside Virginia’s congressional maps intended to advantage neither party and replace them with a new version that could allow Democrats to win all but one seat in the 11-member delegation in the November midterm elections.
“They want to override the voice of Virginia and push us into what is now being called the most partisan, most gerrymandered map in America, worse than Illinois, worse than California,” Youngkin warned.
Left unmentioned by the former governor was the role of Donald Trump, who instigated the nationwide redistricting war last year in an effort to preserve Republican control of Congress for the entirety of his second term, sparking a tit-for-tat between red and blue states that will see its latest skirmish decided on Tuesday, when polls close in Virginia’s redistricting referendum.
Trump says he would be disappointed if Warsh did not cut rates as Fed chair
Also in his interview with CNBC, Donald Trump said that he “would be” disappointed if Kevin Warsh, his nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, did not cut interest rates as soon as he took office after being confirmed by the Senate.
A reminder that Warsh is facing lawmakers today in a hearing, where he’ll face questions about his loyalty to the president and whether this would impact the central bank’s independence. Warsh is also facing pushback from one of the critical Republican votes on the Senate banking committee – Thom Tillis – who has refused to confirm any of Trump pick to lead the Fed as long as the criminal probe into Jerome Powell continues.
The president has remained resolute that “we have to find out” about the renovations of the new Federal Reserve building, which he has accused Powell of mismanaging, leading the justice department to investigate.
Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire with Iran
Donald Trump said that he does not want to extend the two-week ceasefire with Iran, in an interview with CNBC. “I dont’ want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” the president said. The pause is set to expire tomorrow, and vice-president JD Vance will lead last-ditch talks in Islamabad today, in the hopes of striking a deal with Tehran.
However, speaking to Joe Kernen, Trump said that he plans to resume strikes if negotiations collapse. “I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with,” the president added. “But we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go.”
Trump, regardless, remained convinced that “we’re going to end up with a great deal”.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. He’s set to take part in an interview with CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ at 8:30am ET.
The president will spend the rest of the day in meetings until 4pm ET, when he welcomes the NCAA Collegiate National Champions to the White House.
We’ll bring you the latest lines from both opportunities to hear from Trump.
Trump heaps praise on outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook
The president is awake and has used his first social media post of the day to heap praise on Apple’s outgoing CEO Tim Cook.
Donald Trump said he has “always been a fan” of Cook, adding that if Steve Jobs had not died aged 56, he would not have run the company anywhere “near as well as [well]” as under Cook.
He wrote:
For me it began with a phone call from Tim at the beginning of my First Term. He had a fairly large problem that only I, as President, could fix. Most people would have paid millions of dollars to a consultant, who I probably would not have known, but who would say that he knew me well. The fees would be paid but the job would not have gotten done. When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling, how big is that? I was very impressed with myself to have the head of Apple calling to “kiss my ass.”
Anyway, he explained his problem, a tough one it was, I felt he was right and got it taken care of, quickly and effectively. That was the beginning of a long and very nice relationship. During my five years as President, Tim would call me, but never too much, and I would help him where I could. Years latter, after 3 or 4 BIG HELPS, I started to say to people, anyone who would listen, that this guy is an amazing manager and leader.
Trump added:
Anyway, Tim Cook had an AMAZING career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on. Quite simply, Tim Cook is an incredible guy!!!
Two regional officials said on Tuesday that the United States and Iran have signaled they will hold a new round of the ceasefire talks in Islamabad.
The officials’ comments come as neither the US nor Iran have publicly confirmed the timing of the talks, with Iranian state television denying any official was already in Pakistan’s capital.
Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that top negotiators, US vice-president JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday to lead their teams in the talks, the officials told the Associated Press.
President Donald Trump and many of his leading Christian supporters and top Republicans are taking part this week in a marathon reading of the Bible in an America 250-themed event billed as encouraging a “return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country.”
The America Reads the Bible event – with each participant reading a passage aloud – is being live-streamed this week from the Museum of the Bible in Washington and other locations, AP reported.
It is slated to feature a video of Trump on Tuesday evening reading a passage that called for national repentance in ancient Israel – words that have been used prominently for decades by those promoting the belief that America has been and should be a Christian nation.
The Bible is “indelibly woven into our national identity and way of life,” Trump said in a statement commemorating the event.
The statement cited historical figures such as the Puritan leader John Winthrop as “imploring his fellow Christian settlers to stand as a beacon of faith for all the world to see.”
Lauren Aratani
On the face of it, Kevin Warsh looks like an ideal candidate to chair the Federal Reserve, the world’s most important central bank.
The 56-year-old Ivy League economist, former Wall Street banker and presidential adviser ticks all the boxes. Unfortunately for Warsh, as he faces what could be a fraught nomination hearing, his biggest backer is also his biggest liability.
In his second term, Donald Trump has attacked the Fed in a manner both unprecedented and unseemly. He has called current chair Jerome Powell – whom he also appointed – a “jerk”, “a stubborn MORON”, and repeatedly threatened to fire him.
The tension comes from Trump’s desire for lower interest rates. The problem: the president can’t set interest rates.
But Trump thinks he’s found a saving grace in Warsh. Warsh is set to appear in front of the Senate’s banking committee for his nomination hearing on Tuesday morning, where he is expected to be grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating held at the lowest of his term in recent days as many Americans questioned his temperament amid the Iran war and a feud with Pope Leo, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The six-day public opinion poll, concluded on Monday, showed only 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, unchanged from a month earlier.
Trump enjoyed the highest approval rating of his current term, 47%, shortly after he was sworn in to office in January 2025.
Trump has been under pressure since his administration and Israel launched a war against Iran in February that has pushed gasoline prices sharply higher.
Some 36% of Americans approve of US military strikes against Iran, compared with 35% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted 10-12 April.
The latest poll of 4,557 adults nationwide, conducted online, had a margin of error of two percentage points.
Jerome Powell’s term as chair ends on 15 May. He said last month that he would remain as chair until a successor is named.
Powell also is serving a separate term as a member of the Fed’s governing board that lasts until January 2028.
Fed chairs typically leave the board when their terms as chairs ends, but Powell also said last month he would remain on the board, even if a new chair is approved, until the investigation is dropped.
When asked about Powell’s comments, Trump said he would fire Powell if he tried to stay at the Fed.
Yet Trump’s previous attempt to remove a Fed governor, Lisa Cook, has been tied up in courts.
During oral arguments in January, a majority of justices on the Supreme Court appeared to lean towards letting Cook keep her job.
While the long-delayed hearing is a necessary step for Kevin Warsh, it’s not clear when the committee may even be able to vote on his nomination.
The Justice Department is investigating Powell and the Fed over a building renovation, and senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he would effectively block Warsh until the probe is dropped, AP reported.
“Clearly there’s a majority of the committee that’s not going to move this nomination forward, especially while this sham of a criminal investigation is going on,” senator Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, told reporters on a conference call Monday.
“It feels a bit like we’re going through the motions when we really have not addressed the fundamental challenges that this nomination has.”
The turmoil could make a potential transition from Powell to Warsh an unusually turbulent one for the world’s most important central bank, which has typically seen smooth transfers of power.
Should the change in leadership prove difficult, it could unnerve markets and lift longer-term interest rates.
Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick to face lawmakers at key confirmation hearing
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Reserve will commit to protecting central bank independence on interest rates at a crucial confirmation hearing later today.
“I am committed to ensuring that the conduct of monetary policy remains strictly independent,” Kevin Warsh is to say in an opening statement to the Senate Banking Committee. He is also expected to express commitment to fighting inflation, according to remarks seen by the AFP news agency.
The hearing, scheduled for 10am ET, will be closely watched as it marks a key hurdle Warsh must overcome in order to succeed Fed chair Jerome Powell when his term ends on 15 May.
But the session will be tense, with all 11 Democrats on the Banking Committee last week urging for a delay in the nomination’s proceedings until separate investigations into Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook are closed.
Republican senator Thom Tillis, who sits on the panel led by his party, has also vowed to block all Fed nominees – including Warsh – until the Justice Department probe involving Powell is resolved. With 13 Republican members on the committee, Tillis’ vote against Warsh’s confirmation could be enough to set up an impasse.
Warsh is due to face questioning from lawmakers on issues ranging from his wealth to past connections with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alongside his views on economic issues.
In other developments:
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Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Donald Trump’s labor secretary, resigned from her role with the administration. She said it was “an honor and a privilege to serve” to serve and that she would take on a job in the private sector. The departure came after she became entangled in a string of political and personal controversies. Democrats celebrated, writing “this administration is imploding”.
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Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, called for Kash Patel’s immediate resignation following a report from the Atlantic detailing the FBI director’s alleged excessive drinking and absences. Patel has sued the magazine for defamation with his attorneys calling the article a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece”.
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Donald Trump signed memorandums related to coal supply chains, natural gas and grid infrastructure on Monday. The president invoked the Defense Production Act in the energy-related memos, writing that increasing energy production is “essential to United States national defense”.
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The crowded field of Democratic candidates in the California’s governor’s race appears to be narrowing as Betty Yee — a former state controller— announced Monday she planned to end her campaign. Meanwhile, the California Democratic party chair Rusty Hicks continued to urge candidates trailing in the polls to exit the race.