\n<\/p>\n
Note: Powell was appointed as governor by Obama and nominated as chair by Trump.<\/p>\n
When President Trump took office in 2025, just two of the seven seats on the Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors were held by his appointees. He had also elevated Jerome H. Powell to the chair position during his first term.<\/p>\n
Note: Powell was appointed as governor by Obama and nominated as chair by Trump.<\/p>\n
A seat opened up earlier this month when a Biden appointee stepped down. And on Monday, Mr. Trump announced that he was planning to fire another Biden-appointed member of the board. If he succeeds, a majority of the Federal Reserve Board will have been appointed by Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n
Notes: Kugler announced her resignation Aug. 1, and it took effect Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump has made no secret of his desire to reshape the top ranks of the Fed, repeatedly lashing out at Mr. Powell and his colleagues for keeping interest rates too high.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s first opportunity to remake the Fed roster came sooner than expected with the resignation of Adriana D. Kugler. He is working to create another with the firing of Lisa D. Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud. Fed governors can be fired only \u201cfor cause,\u201d generally understood to mean gross misconduct.<\/p>\n
Ms. Cook, who has not been charged with wrongdoing or convicted of a crime, said she would not leave, and her lawyer said she would sue to challenge the dismissal. In a statement, a spokesman for the Fed emphasized the central bank\u2019s independence but said it would \u201cabide by any court decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Mr. Trump succeeds in removing Ms. Cook, he will be able to appoint another governor to serve out her term, which ends in January 2038.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump has already nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser, to serve out Ms. Kugler\u2019s term.<\/p>\n
Presidents appoint Fed governors to staggered 14-year terms, meaning one term expires every two years. The structure is meant to safeguard the Fed\u2019s independence, preventing a president from packing the board and ensuring the Fed governors can consider a longer-term horizon than Congress or the president.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is that you can do something for the long-term health of the country that could be a short-term political loss,\u201d said Aaron Klein, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n
In reality, most do not serve out the full 14 years, and previous presidents have had the opportunity to appoint multiple board members.<\/p>\n
But in the past, board nominations were relatively nonpartisan, Mr. Klein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernors were routinely nominated by one party and renominated by the other,\u201d he said, pointing to Mr. Powell as an example. Mr. Powell, a registered Republican, was appointed to the board by President Barack Obama, nominated as chair by Mr. Trump and renominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.<\/p>\n
But this time, Mr. Klein said, Mr. Trump is seeking to install loyalists who favor his economic policies. \u201cWhat is unique is that these are governors who are likely to do what Trump says, and if not, he\u2019ll fire them.\u201d Mr. Klein added that Mr. Trump\u2019s actions, if allowed to proceed, would \u201ceviscerate\u201d the principle of central bank independence.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s nominees would need to be confirmed by the Senate, which is back in session Sept. 2 \u2014 in time for the Fed\u2019s next rate-setting meeting Sept. 16-17.<\/p>\n
During last month\u2019s meeting, Christopher J. Waller and Michelle W. Bowman, both Trump appointees, voted against the central bank\u2019s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, preferring instead to cut rates.<\/p>\n
In a twist of timing, Mr. Powell just last week gave his strongest indication yet that the central bank was ready to resume rate cuts as soon as September.<\/p>\n
Another key opportunity to reshape the board will arise in May, when Mr. Powell\u2019s term as chair is set to expire. He can then stay on as governor until January 2028. That would be atypical; most of the time, Fed chairs step down to avoid undercutting the authority of the new chair. Mr. Powell has declined to share his plans.<\/p>\n
The power of the Federal Reserve Board goes beyond voting on rates. Members also approve and reappoint the Fed\u2019s regional presidents, who are responsible for financial regulation in their region, including funding for bailouts. In February, all 12 presidents\u2019 terms will expire, and they will need to be reappointed by the board.<\/p>\n
What is typically a pro forma matter could provide Mr. Trump with another opportunity to overhaul the Fed system, Mr. Klein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Trump-loyal Board of Governors could get rid of them all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Note: Powell was appointed as governor by Obama and nominated as chair by Trump. When President Trump took office in 2025, just two of the seven seats on the Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors were held by his appointees. He had also elevated Jerome H. Powell to the chair position during his first term. Note:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[8724,7155,4437,1156,71],"class_list":{"0":"post-18039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-appointees","9":"tag-decades","10":"tag-fed","11":"tag-rule","12":"tag-trumps"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}