There will soon be three vacancies on the governing board of the nation’s central bank, as the current vice chair resigned, effective at week’s end, Monday.
Citing the fact that his term as Federal Reserve Board member expires at the end of the month, Vice Chair Richard Clarida tendered his resignation to the White House from the agency leadership, effective Friday (Jan. 14).
In his resignation letter to President Joe Biden (D), Clarida said it was “a distinct honor and immense privilege” to serve as vice chair of the board, a position he has held since September 2018. Clarida was nominated to the post by President Donald Trump (R ). His current term as a board member ends Jan. 31.
Late last month, Biden nominated Fed Gov. Lael Brainard to take Clarida’s place as vice chair. Also last month, Clarida admitted in disclosures that he had failed to fully disclose financial trades, through a stock fund (and not individual stocks), he made as the coronavirus crisis began to ramp up.
During his just more than three years as a Fed Board member, he led the 2019 review of the agency’s monetary policy strategy, tools, and communication practices and oversaw the creation of the Fed Listens initiative, according to the Fed. He typically limited his public comments to observations on the economy and, in particular, monetary policy.
With Clarida’s resignation, there will soon be three empty seats on the seven-member board. Further, although the White House has nominated Chair Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell for another term as board leader (his current term in that role expires next month), and Brainard to replace Clarida as vice chair, a nomination for the position of vice chair for supervision has not yet been made. The position was previously held by former Gov. Randal Quarles, who resigned last month; he was the first-ever to hold that role. A third seat has been empty since 2017, when Gov. Stanley Fischer resigned.
Last week, reports surfaced that former Fed Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin was under consideration for the supervision role. Her previous stint on the board was from 2010-14. Raskin is also a former Treasury official.