Chair 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 chair presides at meetings of the Board.
The chair 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 chair may serve multiple terms, subject to re-nomination and confirmation each time; William McChesney Martin was the longest serving chair, with Alan Greenspan second.
Jerome Powell was sworn in as chair 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 chair
By law, at meetings of the board the chair presides, or in the absence of the chair, the vice chair presides. In the absence of the chair and the vice chair, the board elects a member to act as chair pro tempore.Under the chair'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 chair also chairs the Federal Open Market Committee, 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 chair of the Board in practice.
By law, the chair reports twice a year to Congress on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy objectives. The chair of the Federal Reserve 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.