IRAN: Sec State Rubio Meeting w/Pakistan Counterpart Underway Shortly

• The Senate Banking Committee will vote to advance the nomination of Kevin Warsh to serve as Fed Chair today, with the executive session starting at 1000ET.
• The vote is expected to clear the committee along party lines after Sen. Tillis (R-NC) said he’s prepared to move ahead with the confirmation after the DoJ dropped a criminal probe into Fed Chair Powell, saying it had removed a threat to the Fed’s independence.
• Tillis said he received assurances from the Justice Department that the criminal case against Powell and the Fed was “completely and fully settled” while the Fed’s inspector general pursues a separate probe into cost overruns in the central bank building’s renovation.
• Warsh is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate in early May, allowing him to be seated by May 15, when Powell vacates the Chair position.
• This meeting of course won’t shed any more light on the likelihood of Powell staying on in a governor role, which he can hold throhugh Jan 2028. Despite the assurances given to Tillis, US Attorney Pirro saying “I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so” could well see Powell be tempted to stay on. Powell said last month “I have no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality”.
• Indeed, Tillis added on Monday night that he understood why Powell would want to continue to serve on the board with the wait letting an inspector general review of the Fed's construction project and a Justice Department appeal of a federal judge's ruling against the probe's subpoenas run their course. "Hopefully it's not going to be a lengthy appeal, but I see a rational basis for sticking around until then."

• MNI: BANK OF CANADA POLICY RATE 2.25%

appr 30,000 SFRZ6/SFRH7 spds on screen, +0.030, appr DV01 $500,000