Jerome H. “Jay” Powell is the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, having been confirmed by the Senate Tuesday on a vote of 84-13; he succeeds Janet Yellen as chairman.
In her resignation letter last year to President Donald Trump, Yellen said her resignation would be effective upon the swearing-in of her successor as chair of the board.
Yellen’s term as chairman runs to Feb. 3.
Among those voting against Powell’s confirmation were Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Powell, 64, was nominated by President Donald Trump to the chairman’s seat last November; he was previously serving as a member of the board. Aside from his service as a Fed Board member, Powell also served in the Treasury Department during the administration of President George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s, as assistant secretary for financial institutions and as undersecretary of domestic finance – both positions that interface with federal financial institution regulatory agencies.
During his confirmation hearing, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that, under his guidance, the Fed will continue to consider appropriate ways to ease regulatory burdens while preserving core reforms – strong levels of capital and liquidity, stress testing, and resolution planning – “so that banks can provide the credit to families and businesses necessary to sustain a prosperous economy. In doing so, we must be clear and transparent about the principles that are driving our decisions and about the expectations we have for the institutions we regulate.”
| INFO, BACKGROUND ON JEROME H. 'Jay' POWELL | |
|---|---|
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| BIRTH DATE | February, 1953 |
| POSITION | Chair, Federal Reserve Board (confirmed by Senate: Jan. 23, 2018); renominated for four-year term ending in 2026 (Nov. 22, 2021) |
| EDUCATION | A.B. (politics), Princeton University (1975) J.D., Georgetown University (1979); editor-in-chief, Georgetown Law Journal |
| EXPERIENCE | Government: 2012 to present: member, Federal Reserve Board September, 1990 to January, 1993: Assistant Treasury Secretary, financial institutions; Treasury Undersecretary, domestic finance Other 1979 to 1990: Dillon, Read & Co. (New York, NY; left for Treasury position as senior vice president) 1997 to 2005: Carlyle Group (partner) 2005-12: Bipartisan Policy Center (visiting scholar), Washington, D.C. |