World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, a major pro-Israel philanthropist with deep ties in Jerusalem, is suddenly one family step away from the world’s most powerful central bank.
Reposted from The Jerusalem Post, January 30, 2026
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder’s son-in-law, Kevin Warsh, was nominated by Donald Trump to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve when Powell’s term ends in May 2026, according to Reuters.
Warsh is one of the more hawkish picks among the perceived candidates, market participants said of the choice, for which they have been gaming out scenarios for months.
“If the nominee is indeed Warsh, we could actually end up with a Fed that tilts hawkish at the margin,” Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group in Chicago, said on January 29.
The other leading candidates for the role were Fed Governor Christopher Waller and BlackRock’s chief bond investment manager, Rick Rieder. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett was an early frontrunner but became an unlikely choice after Trump said he would rather keep him in his current post.
Fed interest-rate decisions impact not only the daily rate at which banks lend to each other but also long-term interest rates, as measured by long-dated US Treasury yields, which in turn influence borrowing costs for consumers and companies.
The president wants the Fed to cut interest rates deeply and has piled pressure on Powell – whom he has nicknamed “Too Late” for hesitancy in complying with Trump’s wishes for looser policy.
Trump’s pick will be scrutinized for his perceived ability to carry out monetary policy without ceding to political pressure, a quality that economists say is the bedrock of any central bank’s inflation-fighting capabilities and what underpins the financial stability of the US economy.
The Lauder link, and why it draws attention in Israel
Warsh’s most visible Jewish connection is family: he is married to Jane Lauder, and his father-in-law is billionaire Ronald Lauder.
Ronald Lauder is a major figure in organized Jewish life. He founded the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, which he says now supports dozens of Jewish schools, kindergartens, and camps across Eastern Europe, and he has led the World Jewish Congress since 2007. The Conference of Presidents’ bio also highlights his long list of Jewish communal roles, including ties to institutions such as Yad Vashem and the Tel Aviv Museum.
Mainstream biographies do not clearly document Warsh’s own religious identity. A Jewish community publication, JWeekly, described Warsh as Jewish in the context of “Jewish candidates” for senior Trump roles. Jewish Insider has also described him as Jewish in coverage tied to his nomination. Reuters’ biographical sketch, by contrast, focuses on his financial-policy career and his marriage to the Lauder family, without addressing religion.
Jane Lauder and Judaism
Jane Lauder’s Jewish connection runs through her family. Corporate disclosures and company material describe her as Ronald Lauder’s daughter, and Ronald Lauder’s own corporate biography foregrounds his leadership of Jewish schools in Europe and his presidency of the World Jewish Congress.
The public primarily profiles Jane Lauder through her executive roles at The Estée Lauder Companies and her family-business leadership.
Lauder is familiar beyond US political circles. He has led the World Jewish Congress for years and remains a high-profile philanthropic and advocacy figure closely tied to Israel and Jewish communities worldwide. In May 2025, Isaac Herzog awarded Lauder Israel’s Presidential Medal of Honor following Lauder’s re-election at the World Jewish Congress plenary assembly in Jerusalem.
The family connection does not carry formal authority over US monetary policy. The Fed chair is expected to operate independently. However, the nomination brings a prominent Jewish communal leader closer to the Fed, an institution whose decisions shape borrowing costs and global market sentiment.
The Fed’s interest-rate decisions often influence global capital flows, the dollar’s strength, and investor appetite for risk, all of which quickly filter into Israel’s economy. When US rates remain high, financing can stay expensive for growth companies and startups. When markets expect lower rates, pressure can ease across credit and funding.
Warsh’s confirmation timeline now hinges on Senate math and committee dynamics, including how lawmakers handle the standoff over the Justice Department inquiry into Powell.
Warsh at odds with Trump on monetary policy
Warsh has called for regime change at the central bank, seeking, among other things, a smaller Fed balance sheet, a goal seemingly at odds with Trump’s preference for looser monetary policy.
Warsh “is on record as saying he prefers lower rates,” said Damien Boey, portfolio strategist at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney. “But the trade-off that he makes with lower rates is that he wants the Fed to have a smaller balance sheet. The markets are reacting as if thinking: ‘What would the world look like with a smaller Fed balance sheet?'”
The dollar rose on January 30, recouping some of its week-long slide, after Trump said he would soon announce his nominee and speculation mounted over Warsh.
“The dollar does seem to be up on that news, and I think that’s because… it’s generally considered that Kevin Warsh is a little bit less dovish than perhaps Kevin Hassett,” said Kristina Clifton, senior economist and senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
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