Jerome H. “Jay” Powell will be sworn in as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board on Monday at 9 a.m., the Fed said today in a statement. Powell was confirmed by the Senate for the position Jan. 23.
Powell will also become chairman Feb. 3 of the Fed’s monetary policy-making body the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The committee, meeting Tuesday through Wednesday, unanimously selected Powell as its next chairman.
Powell replaces Janet Yellen as chairman of both the board and the FOMC. Yellen chaired her last gathering of the FOMC during this latest meeting. Yellen’s term as chairman ends Feb. 3; her term as a member of the Fed board runs until Jan. 31, 2024. However, Yellen has said she will resign from the board when Powell is sworn in.
Powell – who turns 65 in February — 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.