The 68-year-old Republican has been praised for his management of the economy during the pandemic. Jerome H. Powell on Monday took the oath of office for his second term as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Chair Powell’s oath was administered by Vice Chair Lael Brainard in the press briefing room of the Board’s Martin building. Despite this left-wing opposition from both chambers of Congress, no one suggested the name of someone to replace Powell if Biden chose not to renominate him.
Jerome H. Powell sworn in for second term as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
They have criticised Mr Powell for not doing enough to tackle climate change and poverty and say he has weakened regulation of financial institutions. Jerome Powell has been nominated for a second term as chair of the US Federal Reserve by President Joe Biden. Jerome Hayden “Jay” Powell (born February 4, 1953) is an American attorney and investment banker who has served since 2018 as the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve. The president may consider Powell the safe choice, with some Republicans already offering their support.
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But if Senate Democrats fracture over the nomination, it may make it more difficult for them to stick together to pass Biden’s Build Back Better social spending legislation – a development could have grave political consequences for their party. The Federal Reserve Board is committed to supporting responsible fintech innovation, both by the firms we regulate directly, and in the financial market broadly. Learn more about the facilities the Federal Reserve has established in response to events related to the COVID-19 pandemic and read reports filed with Congress pursuant to section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. In the Senate, Elizabeth Warren, D.-Mass., emerged as the most high-profile Powell foe. She blasted the Fed chair at a hearing in October, calling him a “dangerous man to head up the Fed.” Warren was also the only member of the Senate Banking Committee to vote against Powell’s nomination in 2017.
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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said having an independent and experienced Federal reserve was “critically important to navigating this turbulent time”. President Biden’s government is coming under increasing pressure as prices continue to rise for every day goods, eating into ordinary Americans’ spending power. After months of speculation and weeks of apparent hesitation, Joe Biden has decided to stick with Jerome Powell for what is, arguably, the most powerful economic job in the world. Mr Powell is set to stay in the role, which includes managing inflation and regulating the financial system, for a further four years. President Biden re-nominated Mr. Powell in November 2021, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 12, 2022. His new term as Chair ends on May 15, 2026, and his term as a member of the Board ends on January 31, 2028.
- The president may consider Powell the safe choice, with some Republicans already offering their support.
- Today, our economy has rebounded with strong job creation, low unemployment, and economic growth that has outpaced our global competitors.
- Because it encompasses not just stocks but pretty much every other financial asset too.
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said having an independent and experienced Federal reserve was “critically important to navigating this turbulent time”.
“If the people who are at the margins of the economy are doing well, then the rest of it will take care of itself,” Powell said in a “60 Minutes” interview on CBS in the spring. In congressional testimony, this stance has drawn approval from Democratic lawmakers and challenges from Republicans. Randal Quarles, whose position as vice chair for supervision expired last month, recently resigned as governor, giving Biden another opportunity to fill a Fed seat. While Fed nominees are confirmed by the Senate, five progressive members of the House, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, issued a statement in August agitating for a new Fed chair.
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In response, the Fed implemented new restrictions on the financial activities officials can undertake. In a statement, Powell said that what he characterized as “tough new rules” would restore public trust in the central bank’s actions. Biden voiced his support of Brainard, calling her “one of the country’s most qualified and dedicated public servants,” and noting that she has played a pivotal role in expanding access to banking services and has also been a proponent of addressing climate change.
“We urge President Biden to re-imagine a Federal Reserve focused on eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice,” the statement read, in part. As head of the central bank of the world’s largest economy and de facto reserve currency, it is arguably the highest profile role, with high stakes, in the realm of economic policy. “That success is a testament to the economic agenda I’ve pursued and to the decisive action that the Federal Reserve has taken under Chair Powell and Dr Brainard to help steer us through the worst downturn in modern American history and put us on the path to recovery.”
Vice Chair Lael Brainard swears in Chair Jerome H. Powell on May 23, 2022 for his second term as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
President Joe Biden on Monday renominated Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman, ending months of speculation over who would run the central bank for the next four years, the White House announced in a statement. The appointment of Mr Powell, a former private equity lawyer and Republican, appointed by a Democratic president, represents a return to the traditional, non-partisan approach to selecting the Fed chair, after a more politicised approach from President Trump. In addition to service on corporate boards, he has served on the boards of charitable and educational institutions, including the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University and the Nature Conservancy of Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
The assumption among monetary policy wonks is that the unspoken preference of progressives was Brainard, who would most likely take a more aggressive approach to bank oversight and regulation. She also has targeted income inequality as a source of economic destabilization and pushed for the central bank to take a more active role around the financial risks of climate change, two issues that have won her fans among progressive lawmakers. President Biden has tapped Jerome Powell to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. “We’ve made enormous progress in this country,” Biden said in a news briefing Monday afternoon, where he introduced Powell and current Fed governor Lael Brainard, his nominee for vice chair. “It’s a testament to the Federal Reserve.” He also cited Powell’s “steady and decisive leadership” in calming markets and supporting the economy during the pandemic.
Some liberals in the closely-divided Senate have already promised to oppose Powell, who was first selected by Donald Trump, when his nomination comes to a vote in the chamber. Mr. Powell was born in February 1953 in Washington, D.C. He received an AB in politics from Princeton University in 1975 and earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1979. Yellen expressed her support for Powell, saying in a statement on Monday that she was “pleased our economy will continue to benefit from his stewardship.” In her remarks Monday, Brainard said she is committed to “getting inflation down at a time when people are focused on their jobs and how far their paychecks will go.” The US housing market has changed dramatically since the pandemic – an issue looming over the election. The Federal Reserve has primary responsibility for managing inflation but the issue is also affecting the president’s own poll ratings, according to a poll for CBS published this weekend.
Mr. Powell also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, the System’s principal monetary policymaking body. Mr. Powell has served as a member of the Board of Governors since taking office on May 25, 2012, to fill an unexpired term. He was reappointed to the Board and sworn in on June 16, 2014, for a term ending January 31, 2028. Most recently, he came under fire after two regional Fed bank presidents, Robert Kaplan of Dallas and Eric Rosengren of Boston, resigned after financial disclosures found that they had made trades during the pandemic that could benefit them financially.
Economists and policymakers had been speculating for months as to whether Biden would take the unusual step of choosing not to reappoint Powell to a second term (although Powell also succeeded a single-term Fed chair). High up on his list, and sooner rather than later, will be dealing with the consequences of the biggest financial bubble in U.S. history. Because it encompasses not just stocks but pretty much every other financial asset too. Mr Biden said he was confident that Mr Powell and Ms Brainard would focus on tackling inflation, but also shared his belief that urgent action was needed to tackle climate change and risks to the financial system. Instead, Biden has opted for stability in the Federal Reserve at a time when rising interest rates and continued Covid-related challenges put the US economy in a precarious position.
Department of the Treasury under President George H.W. Bush, with responsibility for policy on financial institutions, the Treasury debt market, and related areas. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Mr. Powell worked as a lawyer and investment banker in New York City. For his handling of the economy, including executing unprecedented actions to keep the financial system from collapsing in the early days of the pandemic, Powell won bipartisan praise. He has frequently cited the need for economic and labor market gains to be broad and inclusive as rationale for maintaining accommodative economic policy in the wake of the pandemic-triggered recession.