Fed unanimously reappoints all regional presidents

• Key Insight: The Federal Reserve Thursday voted unanimously to reappoint all existing regional Fed bank presidents and first vice presidents.
• Supporting data: All 12 regional Fed Bank presidents and first vice presidents serve five-year terms ending in years that end with a 1 or a 6. The terms expire on Feb. 28, 2026, but the board may vote on reappointments earlier than the deadline.
• What’s at stake: The vote is typically a pro forma affair, but President Trump’s avowed effort to exert greater control over the central bank has given it renewed attention.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors voted unanimously Wednesday to reappoint all 11 sitting regional Fed presidents up for reappointment.

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The reappointment process, which is typically a routine piece of Fed business, took place Dec. 10, more than two months before the terms of the regional Fed presidents were set to expire. The new five-year terms begin on March 1, 2026.

To some, the unopposed vote may come as a surprise, as expectations have been building that the confirmation process of the regional Fed presidents would be the next political flashpoint for the ongoing power struggle between the White House and central bank. At the very least, some expected a heightened number of dissents.

The Trump administration upped the ante when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent floated the idea of requiring a three-year residency for regional presidents in the districts they represent, though he said any such rule would be prospective rather than retrospective.

“The chair and the board have the final say on who … the regional bank boards can select,” Bessent said. “So I am going to start advocating — going forward, not retroactively — that regional Fed presidents must have lived in their district for at least three years.”

A residency requirement for Fed regional presidents has been met with cautious support.

David Zaring, associate professor at University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview earlier this month that a residency rule could be reasonable for those seeking to serve as regional Fed presidents.

“Their pretty explicit charge to liaise with local business gives them different perspectives on the nature of the economic situation,” said Zaring. “If that’s a good thing — and I think it is — I don’t really mind the idea that they should have lived in their districts for at least three years prior to appointment. That gives them some background for the local work they have to do.”

President Trump has been waging a yearsong campaign to exert more control over the central bank, specifically with the goal of lowering interest rates. For much of the year, the central bank’s policy-setting arm held off on significant cuts because of inflation concerns, but has made 25 basis point cuts in the past three meetings. At a press conference following yesterday’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is likely to wait for clearer signals from the economy before cutting further.

But while some may have feared that the reappointment vote would be controversial, Wednesday’s vote put those fears to rest.

The New York Fed president is a permanent voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, while the other 11 regional presidents rotate onto the committee every second or third year according to a set schedule. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic announced in mid-November that he would not be seeking reappointment and his slot will be filled by Vice President Cheryl Venable until a successor is named. Venable’s reappointment was confirmed, while Bostic’s reappointment was not on the slate per his retirement.