New Delhi, May 14 -- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve. President Donald Trump had picked the former Fed governor to replace Jerome Powell, believing that Warsh can deliver the booming economy the president had promised voters.

Warsh takes over a divided central bank wrestling with the economic fallout from the war started by the U.S. and Israel with Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict has driven up energy prices and made it even more difficult for the Fed to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

But Trump has demanded lower interest rates, not the higher ones that might be needed to keep inflation in check. Warsh, who had positioned himself as an inflation hawk earlier in his career, has more rec...