NEW YORK -- The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin Warsh's nomination as the next chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in a vote of 54-45, placing the 56-year-old financier at the helm of the US central bank as it navigates a complex landscape of surging inflation and geopolitical volatility.

The confirmation follows a Tuesday vote by the Republican-majority Senate to approve Warsh for a 14-year term on the Federal Reserve's seven-member Board of Governors. His formal swearing-in to both positions is pending final signatures from the White House.

Warsh is set to succeed current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose leadership term expires this Friday. Although Powell will step down from the chairmanship, he will remain on the Federal Reserve Board as a governor.

The leadership transition occurs as the Federal Reserve grapples with intensifying price pressures.

Warsh, born in 1970, is a lawyer and financier who previously served as a Federal Reserve governor from 2006 to 2011, playing a key role in navigating the global financial crisis during that time. His return to the board comes at a time of heightened scrutiny regarding the central bank's political independence.

Warsh is expected to lead his first policy-setting meeting on June 16-17.

Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes markets are relieved that Warsh "is going to help lower interest rates over time."

"Obviously, data driven. I'm not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh," Hassett said. "We know that he's an extremely smart, competent person who could be very convincing when he talks to his colleagues."

Warsh has recently signaled a push for changes at the central bank, including closer coordination with the US Treasury Department and a reduction in the Fed's balance sheet.