Chairman of the Federal Reserve

The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman presides at meetings of the Board.

The chairman serves a four-year term after being nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate; the officeholder serves concurrently as a member of the Board of Governors. The chairman may serve multiple terms, subject to re-nomination and confirmation each time; William McChesney Martin (1951–1970) was the longest serving chair, with Alan Greenspan (1987–2006) a close second. neither the president nor congress of the US can dismiss a chairman before the end of a term.

Jerome Powell was sworn in as chairman on February 5, 2018. He had been first nominated to the position by President Donald Trump on November 2, 2017, and confirmed by the Senate. He was nominated to a second term by President Joe Biden, confirmed by the Senate, and sworn in on May 23, 2022.

Appointment process

As stipulated by the Banking Act of 1935, the Chairman is chosen by the president from among the sitting governors to serve four-year terms with the advice and consent of the Senate.see The Senate Committee responsible for vetting a Federal Reserve chair nominee is the Senate Committee on Banking.

Duties of the Fed chairman

By law, at meetings of the Board the chairman presides; in his or her absence, the vice chairman presides. In the absence of the chairman and the vice chairman, the Board shall elect a member to act as chairman pro tempore.

Under the chairman's leadership, the Board's responsibilities include analysis of domestic and international financial and economic developments. The board also supervises and regulates the Federal Reserve Banks, exercises responsibility in the nation's payments system, and administers consumer credit protection laws.

By custom, one of the chairman's most important duties is to serve as the chair of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which is critical in setting short-term U.S. monetary policy. However, the chair of the FOMC is elected at the first meeting of each year, and while the chair of the Board of Governors has always been chosen there is no legal obligation for this to be the case.

By law, the chairman reports twice a year to Congress on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy objectives. He or she also testifies before Congress on numerous other financial issues and meets periodically with the treasury secretary, who is a member of the president's Cabinet.

Conflict of interest law

The law applicable to the chair and all other members of the board provides (in part):

Salary

Chair of the Federal Reserve is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning the salary for that level ( US$246,400, as of April 2024).

List of Fed chairs

The following is a list of past and present chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A chair serves for a four-year term after appointment, but may be reappointed for several further four-year terms. Since the Federal Reserve was established in 1914, the following people have served as chair.

See also

* History of central banking in the United States

Notes

References

Further reading

*
*
* Beckhart, Benjamin Haggott. 1972. ''Federal Reserve System''. ew York American Institute of Banking.
* Shull, Bernard. 2005. ''The fourth branch: the Federal Reserve's unlikely rise to power and influence''. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

External links

*

Public Statements of the Chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
via the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank

Nomination hearings, conducted in the Senate, for Chairs and Members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Timeline of Federal Reserve Chairs
with related resources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chair of the Federal Reserve
Chairs of the Federal Reserve,
United States