Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve

The vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the second-highest officer of the Federal Reserve, after the chair of the Federal Reserve. In the absence of the chair, the vice chair presides over the meetings Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Seal of the Board of Governors
since September 13, 2023
United States Federal Reserve System
Member ofBoard of Governors
Open Market Committee
Reports toUnited States Congress
SeatEccles Building
Washington, D.C.
AppointerPresident
with Senate advice and consent
Term lengthFour years, renewable (as Vice Chair)
14 years, non-renewable (as Governor)
Constituting instrumentFederal Reserve Act
FormationAugust 10, 1914; 110 years ago (1914-08-10)
First holderFrederic Adrian Delano
SalaryExecutive Schedule, Level II[1]
Websitewww.federalreserve.gov

The vice chair and the vice chair for supervision each serve a four-year term after being nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, and they serve concurrently as members of the Board of Governors. Both vice chairs may serve multiple terms, pending a new nomination and confirmation at the end of each term, with Ronald Ransom as the longest serving vice chair from 1936 to 1947. They cannot be dismissed by the president before the end of their term.[2]

The position of vice chair is currently held by Philip Jefferson who was sworn in on September 13, 2023.[3] The position of vice chair for supervision is currently held by Michael Barr who was sworn in on July 19, 2022.[4]

Appointment process

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As stipulated by the Banking Act of 1935, the president may designated to serve as Vice Chairman of the Board for four-year terms with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among the sitting governors.[5][6][7] The Senate Committee responsible for vetting a Federal Reserve vice chair and vice chair for supervision nominees is the Senate Committee on Banking.

Duties of the Fed vice сhairs

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The vice chair of the Board shall serve in the absence of the chair as leader of the Federal Reserve system until chair's replacement was installed by the Senate.[8][9][10]

By law, the vice chair, as part of the Board, make a full report of its operations to the speaker of the House, on progress towards the Fed's responsibilities and monetary policy objectives, which are "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates."[11]

The duties of the vice chair for supervision would include developing policy recommendations regarding supervision and regulation for the Board. The vice chairman of supervision will report to Congress semiannually on the efforts of the board with respect to the conduct of supervision and regulation.[9]

By law, the vice chair for supervision shall appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and at semi-annual hearings regarding the efforts, activities, objectives, and plans of the Board with respect to the conduct of supervision and regulation of depository institution holding companies and other financial firms supervised by the Board.[12]

Conflict of interest law

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The law applicable to the chair, vice chairs and all other members of the board provides (in part):

No member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall be an officer or director of any bank, banking institution, trust company, or Federal Reserve bank or hold stock in any bank, banking institution, or trust company; and before entering upon his duties as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System he shall certify under oath that he has complied with this requirement, and such certification shall be filed with the secretary of the Board.[13]

Salary

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The Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve and the Vice Chair for Supervision are Level II positions in the Executive Schedule,[1] thus earning the salary prescribed for that level (US$203,700, as of January 2023).[14]

List of Fed vice chairs

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The following is a list of past and present vice chairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. A vice chair serves for a four-year term after appointment, but may be reappointed for several consecutive four-year terms. Since the Federal Reserve was established in 1914, the following people have served as vice chair.[a][15]

# Portrait Name
(Birth–death)
Term of office[b] Tenure length Appointed by[c]
Start of term End of term
1   Frederic Delano
(1863–1953)
August 10, 1914 August 9, 1916 1 year, 365 days Woodrow Wilson
2   Paul Warburg
(1868–1932)
August 10, 1916 August 9, 1918 1 year, 364 days
3   Albert Strauss
(1864–1929)
October 26, 1918 March 15, 1920 1 year, 141 days
4   Edmund Platt
(1865–1939)
July 23, 1920 September 14, 1930 10 years, 53 days
5   John Thomas
(1869–unknown)
August 21, 1934 February 10, 1936 1 year, 173 days Franklin D. Roosevelt
6   Ronald Ransom
(1882–1947)
August 6, 1936 December 2, 1947 11 years, 118 days
7   Canby Balderston
(1897–1979)
March 11, 1955 February 28, 1966 10 years, 354 days Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
8   James Robertson
(1907–1994)
March 1, 1966 April 30, 1973 7 years, 60 days Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
9   George Mitchell
(1904–1997)
May 1, 1973 February 13, 1976 2 years, 288 days Richard Nixon
10   Stephen Gardner
(1921–1978)
February 13, 1976 November 19, 1978 2 years, 279 days Gerald Ford
11   Frederick Schultz
(1929–2009)
July 27, 1979 February 11, 1982 2 years, 199 days Jimmy Carter
12   Preston Martin
(1923–2007)
March 31, 1982 April 30, 1986 4 years, 30 days Ronald Reagan
13   Manley Johnson
(born 1949)
August 4, 1986 August 3, 1990 3 years, 364 days
14   David Mullins
(1946–2018)
July 24, 1991 February 14, 1994 2 years, 205 days George H. W. Bush
15   Alan Blinder
(born 1945)
June 27, 1994 January 31, 1996 1 year, 218 days Bill Clinton
16   Alice Rivlin
(1931–2019)
June 25, 1996 July 16, 1999 3 years, 21 days
17   Roger Ferguson
(born 1951)
October 5, 1999 April 28, 2006 6 years, 205 days Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
18   Don Kohn
(born 1942)
June 23, 2006 June 23, 2010 4 years, 0 days George W. Bush
19   Janet Yellen
(born 1946)
October 4, 2010 February 3, 2014 3 years, 122 days Barack Obama
20   Stan Fischer
(born 1943)
June 16, 2014 October 16, 2017 3 years, 122 days
21   Richard Clarida
(born 1957)
September 17, 2018 January 14, 2022 3 years, 119 days Donald Trump
22   Lael Brainard
(born 1962)
May 23, 2022 February 18, 2023 271 days Joe Biden
23   Philip Jefferson
(born 1961/1962)
September 13, 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 70 days

List of Fed vice chairs for supervision

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The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which came into force on July 21, 2010, required the president to designate, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a new "Vice Chairman for Supervision," who "shall develop policy recommendations for the Board regarding supervision and regulation of depository institution holding companies and other financial firms supervised by the Board and shall oversee the supervision and regulation of such firms."[8] Since the Dodd–Frank Act was enacted in 2010, the following people have served as vice chair for supervision.[15]

# Portrait Name
(Birth–death)
Term of office[b] Tenure length Appointed by
Start of term End of term
1   Randy Quarles
(born 1957)
October 13, 2017 October 13, 2021 4 years, 0 days Donald Trump
2   Michael Barr
(born 1965/1966)
July 19, 2022 Incumbent 2 years, 126 days Joe Biden

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The position was established as Vice Governor of the Federal Reserve Board on December 23, 1913; thereafter became Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on August 23, 1935; and re-aligned to be gender-neutral after Rivlin became the first female officeholder on June 25, 1996.
  2. ^ a b The start date given here for each officeholder is the day they took the oath of office, and the end date is the day of their term expiration, resignation, retirement, or death.
  3. ^ A fixed term with reappointment for the Vice Chair, then known as Vice Governor, was not added to the Federal Reserve Act until the Banking Act of 1935 (P.L. 74-305, 49 Stat. 684).

References

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  1. ^ a b 5 U.S.C. § 5313
  2. ^ "Can the President Fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve?". Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  3. ^ "Philip N. Jefferson sworn in as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System". Federal Reserve. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  4. ^ "Michael S. Barr sworn in as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System". Federal Reserve. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "The Fed - Board Members". Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. February 21, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  6. ^ "The Structure of the Federal Reserve System". Federalreserve.gov. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  7. ^ Federal Reserve (January 16, 2009). "Board of Governors FAQ". Federal Reserve. Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  8. ^ a b see 12 U.S.C. § 244
  9. ^ a b "Chair of the Federal Reserve Board". www.stlouisfed.org. February 12, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Reddy, Sudeep (January 11, 2010). "What If The Senate Doesn't Confirm Bernanke By Jan. 31?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  11. ^ see 12 U.S.C. § 247
  12. ^ see 12 U.S.C. § 247b
  13. ^ 12 U.S.C. § 244
  14. ^ "Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF).
  15. ^ a b "Vice Chairs". Membership of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1914–present. The Federal Reserve Board. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.

Further reading

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