The Federal Reserve Board now has a permanent chair, and is a step closer to having its full contingent of seven members after action in successive days by the U.S. Senate.
Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell was confirmed by the Senate Thursday to a second, four-year term as Fed Board Chair; he had been serving as chair “pro tem” after his first term as chair ran out last fall. Powell’s latest term will run to May, 2026. Powell was confirmed on a bipartisan vote of 80-19.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted, on a bipartisan vote of 91-7, to confirm Philip N. Jefferson, as a Fed Board member. He was nominated to a 14-year term that would expire in January 2036.
On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed yet a third member of the Fed Board, Lisa DeNell Cook, after a 50-50 tie vote was broken by Vice President Kamala Harris, acting in her capacity as president of the Senate. Cook will fill the remainder of a 14-year term that began Feb. 1, 2010 (that is, until 2024).
Only one seat now is empty on the seven-member board – that of vice chair of supervision. However, President Joe Biden (D) has nominated former Treasury official Michael Barr for that job. The Senate Banking Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on the nomination. If confirmed, he would replace Randal Quarles, whose term as vice chair ran out last fall; Quarles resigned from the Fed Board in December.