Inside Kevin Warsh’s process for choosing the next president of the Atlanta Fed

The search for a new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – now entering its seventh month – is being watched carefully as the new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh intends to reshape the Federal Open Market Committee that sets the interest rate.

That process has changed since Warsh began putting his stamp on the Fed. The Fed was considering candidates in Atlanta under then-Chairman Jerome Powell, but the selection process has been halted in part to allow Warsh to oversee the appointment, two people familiar with the hiring process told CNBC, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing search. Michael Faulkender, a former senior Treasury official under President Donald Trump, was considered for the position in Atlanta, the people said.

It is unclear whether Faulkender is still a candidate.

The Atlanta Fed declined to comment on Faulkender or anyone else being considered.

“Our committee is conducting a thorough and deliberate search for the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. We are maintaining our focus on selecting the best candidate to serve the Sixth District, while protecting the integrity of the process,” said Greg Haile, chairman of the Atlanta Fed’s board of directors and presidential search committee, in an emailed statement. “We will provide appropriate updates regarding this important leadership role as appropriate.”

The Fed and Faulkender declined to comment.

Warsh promised a “regime change” at the Fed, including a rethinking of rate-setting policy and the balance sheet, communicating what data the Fed uses to measure the economy. But he gains the Fed whose membership is made up of Powell and the seats in front of him. Warsh has few immediate opportunities outside of the Atlanta job to bring allies to the FOMC.

He recently announced five research forces that want to change it. Those will be hired by outside experts. No current Fed governors or presidents will be included in those forces.

Warsh comes facing questions about how he will stand up to Trump. But Warsh did not give in at his first FOMC meeting last week to Trump’s demands for an immediate rate cut.

Instead Warsh defied the expectations of many analysts with a hawkish press conference that prompted markets to raise their expectations for interest rates.

Warsh could use the Atlanta pick to continue to defy expectations and assert his independence from management.

The Fed’s 12 regional presidents are chosen through a back-and-forth process between the bank’s directors and the Board of Governors in Washington. That provision is the result of the Federal Reserve Act’s attempt to balance the power of the Board in Washington and the New York Fed with strong regional representation.

Often, local bank directors hire a search firm and come up with a list of candidates. After the response from Washington, the directors then selected a suitable president for the Board and the chairman. The process may include input from the board and congressional representatives and advocacy groups.

Bank directors often have their own agendas. For example, the Kansas City Fed has chosen a series of hawkish candidates going back decades. They garnered the most dissenting votes at the FOMC against lowering interest rates.

The Atlanta Fed position has been open since February, when Raphael Bostic stepped down at the end of his term. He had announced that he would be leaving in November. He became the first African-American to lead the regional bank in 2017 under pressure from Congress and outside interest groups for the Fed to diversify its leadership positions.

Search firm Heidrick & Struggles is overseeing the current search. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Warsh may end up reshaping the committee. The Supreme Court will soon rule on whether Governor Lisa Cook can continue in office, after Trump tried to fire her last year. Powell holds a seat on the Board of Governors that expires in January 2028.

Three other regional bank presidents will take office in 2028: John Williams of New York, Mary Daly of San Francisco and Tom Barkin of Richmond.

There is already a quiet campaign to urge Warsh to line up for Williams, CNBC reports.

The president of the New York Fed has a non-binding vote on the FOMC. The other 11 regional bank presidents, including those in Atlanta, voted in rotation. The president of the Atlanta Fed will vote on the FOMC in 2027. The Atlanta bank is currently being run by interim President Cheryl Venable.

Powell expressed concern in his final press conference as chairman about political interference with Fed regional presidents. If governors were to be removed because of their policy views, “that would be the beginning of the end, of the Fed’s ability to make monetary policy independently,” Powell said in April.

Warsh said at his confirmation hearing in April that while he had called for “regime change” at the Fed, he did not mean to replace regional bank presidents.

Faulkender was deputy secretary of the Treasury from March to August 2025 and is now a professor of finance at the University of Maryland. Faulkender, who previously served as commissioner of the International Revenue Service, resigned from his position as Treasury after Trump fired him, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Atlanta’s final option will be scrutinized for any sign of loyalty or independence from the Trump administration.

The Fed’s two current regional presidents, Austan Goolsbee of Chicago and Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis, have previously been politically appointed to different positions.