Yellen says she’ll give up her position on Fed board
WASHINGTON — Janet Yellen submitted her resignation from the Federal Reserve board to President Donald Trump on Monday, announcing that she will leave when her successor is sworn in as Fed chairman.
In a letter to the president, Yellen said she would her “utmost” to ensure a smooth transition to Jerome Powell, who was chosen by Trump on Nov. 2 to become the next Fed leader after the president decided not to offer Yellen a second term.
Yellen’s decision gives Trump in his first year in office the chance to fill five positions on the Fed’s seven-member board, in addition to picking Powell to be the next Fed chairman. Board member Lael Brainard will be the only Fed board member not nominated by Trump, meaning his selections will have tremendous influence in setting the country’s future monetary policy.
Powell’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for next week before the Senate Banking Committee. Powell, at one time the only Republican on the Fed board, is not expected to encounter major hurdles in winning confirmation to the chairman’s job. He has been on the Fed board since 2012.
Yellen’s four-year term as Fed chair ends on Feb. 3. But she could have chosen to remain on the board until her term as a board member ended in January 2024.
Until Monday, Yellen had been mum on whether she might stay on the Fed board if she did not get another term as chair.
In her letter to Trump, Yellen said it had been “my great privilege and honor” to serve in the Federal Reserve system over three decades, first as a member of the board during the 1990s.
She served as president of the Fed’s San Francisco regional bank, then Fed board vice chairman. In 2014, Yellen succeeded Ben Bernanke to become the first woman to head the U.S. central bank.
Yellen was the first Fed leader not to be offered a second term in four decades.