Federal Reserve Board of Governors FRB

The Federal Reserve Act, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913, created a Federal Reserve Board in Washington to supervise 12 regional Reserve Banks, and the board first met on August 10, 1914, with the Treasury Secretary and Comptroller of the Currency as members. After the banking collapse of the early 1930s, the Banking Act of 1935 reorganized it as the Board of Governors, removed the Treasury officials, and strengthened its control over monetary policy. The board moved into its marble headquarters on Constitution Avenue, later named the Eccles Building, in 1937.

The seven governors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to staggered 14-year terms, one expiring every two years, and may be removed only for cause. The President names a Chair, a Vice Chair, and, since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, a Vice Chair for Supervision from among them for four-year terms. The governors hold seven of the 12 votes on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the target for short-term interest rates. The board also sets reserve and capital requirements, supervises large bank holding companies, approves the Reserve Banks' discount rates, and writes consumer protection rules for banks.

The board's independence is designed to keep interest rate decisions insulated from short-term political pressure, and in a May 2025 order the Supreme Court described the Federal Reserve as a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity, suggesting it might be treated differently from other independent agencies. In August 2025 the President moved to remove a sitting governor, citing allegations of mortgage fraud that she denied, and lower courts blocked the removal while the Supreme Court took up the dispute, hearing argument in January 2026. Supporters of the President's position said for-cause removal must be decided by the President, while critics said the move threatened the independence of monetary policy.