The vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the second-highest officer of the Federal Reserve, after the chair of the Federal Reserve. In the absence of the chair, the vice chair presides over the meetings Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
| Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | |
|---|---|
Seal of the Board of Governors | |
Flag of the Federal Reserve System | |
since September 13, 2023 | |
| United States Federal Reserve System | |
| 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 vice chair) 14 years, non-renewable (as governor) |
| Constituting instrument | Federal Reserve Act |
| Formation | August 10, 1914 |
| First holder | Frederic Adrian Delano |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level II |
| Website | www.federalreserve.gov |
The vice chair and the vice chair for supervision each serve a four-year term after being nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, and they serve concurrently as members of the Board of Governors. Both vice chairs may serve multiple terms, pending a new nomination and confirmation at the end of each term, with Ronald Ransom as the longest serving vice chair from 1936 to 1947. They cannot be dismissed by the president before the end of their term.
The position of vice chair is currently held by Philip Jefferson who was sworn in on September 13, 2023. The position of vice chair for supervision is currently held by Michelle Bowman after Michael Barr's resignation which took effect on February 28, 2025, and her confirmation by a vote of 48-46.
Appointment process
As stipulated by the Banking Act of 1935, the president may designated to serve as Vice Chairman of the Board for four-year terms with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among the sitting governors. The Senate Committee responsible for vetting a Federal Reserve vice chair and vice chair for supervision nominees is the Senate Committee on Banking.
Duties of the Fed vice сhairs
The vice chair of the Board shall serve in the absence of the chair as leader of the Federal Reserve system until chair's replacement was installed by the Senate.
By law, the vice chair, as part of the Board, makes a full report of its operations to the speaker of the House, on progress towards the Fed's responsibilities and monetary policy objectives, which are "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates."
The duties of the vice chair for supervision include developing policy recommendations regarding supervision and regulation for the Board. The vice chairman of supervision reports to Congress semiannually on the efforts of the board with respect to the conduct of supervision and regulation.
By law, the vice chair for supervision shall appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and at semi-annual hearings regarding the efforts, activities, objectives, and plans of the Board with respect to the conduct of supervision and regulation of depository institution holding companies and other financial firms supervised by the Board.
Conflict of interest law
The law applicable to the chair, vice chairs 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
The Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve and the Vice Chair for Supervision are Level II positions in the Executive Schedule, thus earning the salary prescribed for that level (US$203,700, as of January 2023).
List of Fed vice chairs
The following is a list of past and present vice chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A vice chair serves for a four-year term after appointment, but may be reappointed for several consecutive four-year terms. Since the Federal Reserve was established in 1914, the following people have served as vice chair.
| # | Portrait | Name (Birth–death) | Term of office | Tenure length | Appointed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start of term | End of term | |||||
| 1 | Frederic Delano (1863–1953) | August 10, 1914 | August 9, 1916 | 1 year, 365 days | Woodrow Wilson | |
| 2 | Paul Warburg (1868–1932) | August 10, 1916 | August 9, 1918 | 1 year, 364 days | ||
| 3 | Albert Strauss (1864–1929) | October 26, 1918 | March 15, 1920 | 1 year, 141 days | ||
| 4 | Edmund Platt (1865–1939) | July 23, 1920 | September 14, 1930 | 10 years, 53 days | ||
| 5 | John Thomas (1869–unknown) | August 21, 1934 | February 10, 1936 | 1 year, 173 days | Franklin D. Roosevelt | |
| 6 | Ronald Ransom (1882–1947) | August 6, 1936 | December 2, 1947 | 11 years, 118 days | ||
| 7 | Canby Balderston (1897–1979) | March 11, 1955 | February 28, 1966 | 10 years, 354 days | Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy | |
| 8 | James Robertson (1907–1994) | March 1, 1966 | April 30, 1973 | 7 years, 60 days | Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon | |
| 9 | George Mitchell (1904–1997) | May 1, 1973 | February 13, 1976 | 2 years, 288 days | Richard Nixon | |
| 10 | Stephen Gardner (1921–1978) | February 13, 1976 | November 19, 1978 | 2 years, 279 days | Gerald Ford | |
| 11 | Frederick Schultz (1929–2009) | July 27, 1979 | February 11, 1982 | 2 years, 199 days | Jimmy Carter | |
| 12 | Preston Martin (1923–2007) | March 31, 1982 | April 30, 1986 | 4 years, 30 days | Ronald Reagan | |
| 13 | Manley Johnson (born 1949) | August 4, 1986 | August 3, 1990 | 3 years, 364 days | ||
| 14 | David Mullins (1946–2018) | July 24, 1991 | February 14, 1994 | 2 years, 205 days | George H. W. Bush | |
| 15 | Alan Blinder (born 1945) | June 27, 1994 | January 31, 1996 | 1 year, 218 days | Bill Clinton | |
| 16 | Alice Rivlin (1931–2019) | June 25, 1996 | July 16, 1999 | 3 years, 21 days | ||
| 17 | Roger Ferguson (born 1951) | October 5, 1999 | April 28, 2006 | 6 years, 205 days | Bill Clinton George W. Bush | |
| 18 | Don Kohn (born 1942) | June 23, 2006 | June 23, 2010 | 4 years, 0 days | George W. Bush | |
| 19 | Janet Yellen (born 1946) | October 4, 2010 | February 3, 2014 | 3 years, 122 days | Barack Obama | |
| 20 | Stanley Fischer (1943-2025) | June 16, 2014 | October 16, 2017 | 3 years, 122 days | ||
| 21 | Richard Clarida (born 1957) | September 17, 2018 | January 14, 2022 | 3 years, 119 days | Donald Trump | |
| 22 | Lael Brainard (born 1962) | May 23, 2022 | February 18, 2023 | 271 days | Joe Biden | |
| 23 | Philip Jefferson (born 1961/1962) | September 13, 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 88 days | ||
List of Fed vice chairs for supervision
The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which came into force on July 21, 2010, required the president to designate, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a new "Vice Chairman for Supervision," who "shall develop policy recommendations for the Board regarding supervision and regulation of depository institution holding companies and other financial firms supervised by the Board and shall oversee the supervision and regulation of such firms." Since the Dodd–Frank Act was enacted in 2010, the following people have served as vice chair for supervision.
| # | Portrait | Name (Birth–death) | Term of office | Tenure length | Appointed by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start of term | End of term | |||||
| 1 | Randy Quarles (born 1957) | October 13, 2017 | October 13, 2021 | 4 years, 0 days | Donald Trump | |
| 2 | Michael Barr (born 1965) | July 19, 2022 | February 28, 2025 | 2 years, 224 days | Joe Biden | |
| 3 | Michelle Bowman (born 1971) | June 9, 2025 | Incumbent | 184 days | Donald Trump | |
See also
- History of central banking in the United States
Notes
- The position was established as Vice Governor of the Federal Reserve Board on December 23, 1913; thereafter became Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on August 23, 1935; and re-aligned to be gender-neutral after Rivlin became the first female officeholder on June 25, 1996.
- The start date given here for each officeholder is the day they took the oath of office, and the end date is the day of their term expiration, resignation, retirement, or death.
- A fixed term with reappointment for the Vice Chair, then known as Vice Governor, was not added to the Federal Reserve Act until the Banking Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-305, 49 Stat. 684).
Further reading
- "Executive Order 11110 - Amendment of Executive Order No. 10289 as Amended, Relating to the Performance of Certain Functions Affecting the Department of the Treasury". The American Presidency Project. June 4, 1963 – via UCSB.edu.
- Andrews, Edmund L. (November 5, 2005). "All for a more open Fed". New Straits Times. p. 21.
- Beckhart, Benjamin Haggott. 1972. Federal Reserve System. [New York]: American Institute of Banking.
- Shull, Bernard. 2005. The fourth branch: the Federal Reserve's unlikely rise to power and influence. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.
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