Chair of the Federal Reserve

The Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is chosen by the President from among the seven governors and confirmed by the Senate for a four-year term as Chair, which may be renewed. The Chair's term on the board itself runs fourteen years and is separate, so a Chair who is not reappointed may remain a governor. By tradition a Chair who is replaced resigns from the board. The Chair also leads the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates.

The Chair is the Fed's public voice. Twice a year the Chair testifies to Congress on monetary policy, after each rate decision the Chair holds a press conference, and every word of those appearances is parsed by markets around the world. The Chair builds consensus on the committee, where each member has one vote, and represents the Fed at international meetings. Long-serving Chairs, including William McChesney Martin, Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan, and Ben Bernanke, became defining figures of their economic eras.

Presidents appoint Chairs but cannot fire them over policy disagreements, at least under long-standing understanding of the law. Several presidents have pressured Chairs to lower rates, and Paul Volcker held his course through two deep recessions to break inflation in the early 1980s. Jerome Powell, appointed by Donald Trump in 2018 and reappointed by Joe Biden in 2022, faced repeated public attacks from the President in 2025 and completed his term as Chair in May 2026. The selection and confirmation of his successor put the question of the Fed's independence at the center of the Senate's agenda.