Washington DC - The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as a governor on the board of the Federal Reserve, clearing the way for him to take the reins of the central bank later this week as the world's largest economy faces inflation at a three-year high.

The Senate voted 51-45 to confirm Warsh's appointment to the board for a 14-year term, with the results largely along party lines.

The Senate will hold a separate vote to confirm Warsh as the central bank's chair, taking over from incumbent Jerome Powell, whose term finishes at the end of this week.

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President Donald Trump has frequently insulted and criticized Powell, demanding the central bank lower interest rates faster, despite significant economic headwinds.

US consumer inflation came in at its highest year-on-year level since 2023 on Tuesday, registering at 3.8% in April, with significant increases in both energy and food prices.

Warsh has backed lower interest rates, despite price increases having outpaced the Fed's long-term 2% target for years.

The US labor market has also shown signs of weakness, with unemployment steady but job growth see-sawing between contraction and expansion for months.

Warsh is due to be confirmed for a separate four-year term as Fed chair by the Senate in the coming days.

On the board, he will take up a seat vacated by Trump ally Stephen Miran, who was named as a governor in September to complete the unfinished term of Adriana Kugler, who resigned.

Warsh takes over the Fed as Trump has launched unprecedented attacks on the central bank's independence, initiating a criminal probe against Powell over a building renovation project and attempting to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

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The Justice Department dropped the Powell probe to clear the way in the Senate for Warsh's confirmation. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of Trump's attempted ousting of Cook.

At his confirmation hearing last month, Warsh said he would "absolutely not" be a puppet for the president.

At his last press conference as Fed chair, Powell announced that he would take the unusual step of staying on the board even after stepping down as its head.

He cited threats to the central bank's independence as the reason and promised to "keep a low profile" under Warsh.