WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve on May 15 named Mr Jerome Powell the temporary chair of the Board of Governors until his successor Kevin Warsh is officially sworn in, the central bank said in a statement.
Mr Powell’s four-year term as chair ended on May 15. The US Senate confirmed Mr Warsh earlier this week to be the next Fed leader, but he will not officially take the reins until he is sworn in.
“This temporary action to name the incumbent as chair pro tempore is consistent with past practice during similar transitions between chairs,” the Fed said.
The board voted 5-1 in favour of the designation, with Fed Governor Stephen Miran voting against the action and vice-chair for supervision Michelle Bowman abstaining.
A Fed spokesperson declined to comment on when Mr Warsh may be sworn in.
US President Donald Trump must sign Mr Warsh’s official commission before he assumes the role. The incoming Fed chief has also pledged to divest sizable financial assets before taking office.
In a joint statement, Ms Bowman and Mr Miran said they supported Powell’s temporary designation, but said it should only be for a limited time.
“Given that we have a confirmed nominee who will soon be sworn in, in our view, the election of a chair pro tempore should be limited to a finite time period of at least a week (but we would support a period up to a month to allow for possible delay),” they said.
If the incoming chair is not sworn in during that time, Ms Bowman and Mr Miran added, the temporary designation should be subject to renewal by another vote of the Fed board “or potential presidential action”.
They said they discussed the matter with the Fed’s general counsel.
“Given that we do not support an unlimited timeframe for temporary chair designation, we cannot support this action,” they said. BLOOMBERG
