The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after ...
. It is charged with overseeing the
Federal Reserve Banks
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...
and with helping implement the
monetary policy of the United States
Monetary policy of The United States concerns those policies related to the minting & printing of money, policies governing the legal exchange of currency, demand deposits, the money supply, etc. In the United States, the central bank, The Fed ...
. Governors are appointed by the
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
and confirmed by the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for staggered 14-year terms.
[See ]
Statutory description
![Federal Reserve Governors meeting April 2019 (47679887231)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Federal_Reserve_Governors_meeting_April_2019_%2847679887231%29.jpg)
By law, the appointments must yield a "fair representation of the financial, agricultural, industrial, and commercial interests and geographical divisions of the country".
As stipulated in the Banking Act of 1935
The ''Banking Act of 1935'' passed on August 19, 1935 and was signed into law by the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on August 23. The Act changed the structure and power distribution in the Federal Reserve System that began with the '' Banking ...
, the Chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
and Vice Chair of the Board are two of seven members of the Board of Governors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...
who are appointed by the President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
from among the sitting governors of the Federal Reserve Banks.
The terms of the seven members of the Board span multiple presidential and congressional terms. Once a member of the Board of Governors is appointed by the president, the members function mostly independently. Such independence is unanimously supported by major economists. The Board is required to make an annual report of operations to the Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
. It also supervises and regulates the operations of the Federal Reserve Bank
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...
s, and the U.S. banking system in general. The Board obtains its funding from charges that it assesses on the Federal Reserve Banks, and not from the federal budget.
Membership is by statute limited in term, and a member that has served for a full 14-year term is not eligible for reappointment.[ There are numerous occasions where an individual was appointed to serve the remainder of another member's uncompleted term, and has been reappointed to serve a full 14-year term.][ Since "upon the expiration of their terms of office, members of the Board shall continue to serve until their successors are appointed and have qualified",][ it is possible for a member to serve for significantly longer than a full term of 14 years. The law provides for the removal of a member of the Board by the President "for cause".][See .]
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Governors are appointed by the President from among the sitting Governors. They both serve a four-year term and they can be renominated as many times as the President chooses, until their terms on the Board of Governors expire.[
All seven board members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and five Federal Reserve Bank presidents direct the open market operations that sets U.S. monetary policy through their membership in the ]Federal Open Market Committee
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a committee within the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations (e.g., the Fed's buying and selling of United States Treas ...
(FOMC).
Records of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors are found in the Record Group n. 82 at the National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
.
Current members
The current members of the Board of Governors are as follows:
Committees
There are eight committees.
*Committee on Board Affairs
*Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs
*Committee on Economic and Financial Monitoring and Research
*Committee on Financial Stability
*Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Affairs
*Committee on Bank Supervision
*Subcommittee on Smaller Regional and Community Banking
*Committee on Payments, Clearing, and Settlement
List of governors
The following is a list of past and present members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A governor serves for a fourteen-year term after appointment and member who serves a full term may not be reappointed; when governor completes an unexpired portion of a term may be reappointed. Since the Federal Reserve was established in 1914, the following people have served as governor.
Status
*''Italics'' denotes date of term expiration
Succession of seats
The Federal Reserve Board has seven seats subject to Senate confirmation, separate from a member's term as chair or vice chair.
Structure of leadership
The Chair, Vice Chair and Vice Chair for Supervision are appointed by the President from among the sitting members of the Board to serve a four-year term and they can be renominated as many times as the President chooses, subject to Senate confirmation each time, until their terms on the Board of Governors expire.
Unsuccessful nominations
The below were formally nominated to fill a vacant seat but failed to be confirmed by the Senate. In addition, Steve Moore and Herman Cain
Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...
were announced, but never formally nominated, to fill Bloom Raskin and Yellen's seats (without specifying which seat or district) by Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
in 2019 before being withdrawn from consideration.
References
External links
Federal Reserve List of Governors
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
in the Federal Register
The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
Nomination hearings for Chairmen and Members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Public Statements of Federal Reserve Board Members and Chairmen
Minutes of Meetings of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Works by the Board of Governors
{{authority control
*
1914 establishments in the United States
Financial regulatory authorities of the United States