The chairman 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.
| Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | |
|---|---|
Seal of the Board of Governors | |
Flag of the Federal Reserve System | |
Incumbent since February 5, 2018Jerome Powell | |
| United States Federal Reserve System | |
| Style | Mr. Chairman |
| Member of | Board of Governors Open Market Committee |
| Reports to | United States Congress |
| Seat | Eccles Building Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | The president with Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | Four years, renewable (as chair) 14 years, non-renewable (as governor) |
| Constituting instrument | Federal Reserve Act |
| Formation | August 10, 1914 |
| First holder | Charles Sumner Hamlin |
| Deputy | Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
| Website | federalreserve.gov |
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.
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. 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, the chairman also chairs the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which directs short-term U.S. monetary policy. Although the statute and rules of the FOMC allow it to elect any member as its chair, it has always chosen the chairman of the Board in practice.
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):
No member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be an officer or director of any bank, banking institution, trust company, or Federal Reserve bank or hold stock in any bank, banking institution, or trust company; and before entering upon his duties as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System he shall certify under oath that he has complied with this requirement, and such certification shall be filed with the secretary of the Board.
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.
| # | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Tenure length | Appointed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start of term | End of term | |||||
| - | William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) | December 23, 1913 | August 10, 1914 | 230 days | ex officio | |
| 1 | Charles Hamlin (1861–1938) | August 10, 1914 | August 9, 1916 | 1 year, 365 days | Woodrow Wilson | |
| 2 | William Harding (1864–1930) | August 10, 1916 | August 9, 1922 | 5 years, 364 days | ||
| 3 | Daniel Crissinger (1860–1942) | May 1, 1923 | September 15, 1927 | 4 years, 137 days | Warren G. Harding | |
| 4 | Roy Young (1882–1960) | October 4, 1927 | August 31, 1930 | 2 years, 331 days | Calvin Coolidge | |
| 5 | Eugene Meyer (1875–1959) | September 16, 1930 | May 10, 1933 | 2 years, 236 days | Herbert Hoover | |
| 6 | Eugene Black (1873–1934) | May 19, 1933 | August 15, 1934 | 1 year, 88 days | Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
| 7 | Marriner Eccles (1890–1977) | November 15, 1934 | January 31, 1948 | 13 years, 77 days | ||
| 8 | Thomas McCabe (1893–1982) | April 15, 1948 | March 31, 1951 | 2 years, 350 days | Harry S. Truman | |
| 9 | William McChesney Martin (1906–1998) | April 2, 1951 | January 31, 1970 | 18 years, 304 days | Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 10 | Arthur Burns (1904–1987) | February 1, 1970 | January 31, 1978 | 7 years, 364 days | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford | |
| 11 | William Miller (1925–2006) | March 8, 1978 | August 6, 1979 | 1 year, 151 days | Jimmy Carter | |
| 12 | Paul Volcker (1927–2019) | August 6, 1979 | August 11, 1987 | 8 years, 5 days | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan | |
| 13 | Alan Greenspan (born 1926) | August 11, 1987 | January 31, 2006 | 18 years, 173 days | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush | |
| 14 | Ben Bernanke (born 1953) | February 1, 2006 | January 31, 2014 | 7 years, 364 days | George W. Bush Barack Obama | |
| 15 | Janet Yellen (born 1946) | February 3, 2014 | February 3, 2018 | 4 years, 0 days | Barack Obama | |
| 16 | Jerome Powell (born 1953) | February 5, 2018 | Incumbent | 7 years, 313 days | Donald Trump Joe Biden | |
See also
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