Who has to leave the Federal Reserve next?

Joe Biden has just one empty seat to fill on the Federal Reserve’s seven-member Board of Governors, but he will have to decide in the coming months whether to reappoint or replace the chair (Powell) and the two vice chairs (Richard Clarida and Randal Quarles) when their terms in those posts expire.

Under a 1977 law, the president nominates a Fed chair and the two vice chairs for four-year terms. They must be confirmed for those positions by the Senate in a vote distinct from their confirmation as a member of the Fed board. Powell’s term as chair expires in February 2022. Clarida’s term as vice chair expires in September 2022. Quarles’ term as vice chair for (bank) supervision ends in October 2021.

Fed board members in Washington are chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The president and the Senate have no say in picking presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks, however; they’re chosen by their private-sector boards of directors subject to the approval of the Fed’s board in Washington.

Presidents of the regional Fed banks can serve until they’re 65, unless appointed after turning 55, in which case they can serve for a maximum of 10 years or until they’re 75, whichever comes first. Ms. Daly, appointed on October 1st, 2018, at the age of 55, falls into the second category, which means her term is up in October of 2028.

After press reports of their stock-market trading raised eyebrows, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said that he would retire September 30, 2021, nine months earlier than his mandatory retirement due to health issues, and Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan said he would retire October 8, four years before his mandatory retirement date, because “recent focus on my financial disclosure risks becoming a distraction to the Federal Reserve.”

Name	Must Leave By	Bank	Age Now	Age Appointed
Rosengren*	June 2022	Boston	64	50
Evans	January 2023	Chicago	63	49
George	January 2023	Kansas City	63	53
Mester	May 2024	Cleveland	62	55
Harker	June 2025	Philadelphia	62	56
Kaplan**	September 2025	Dallas	64	58
Bullard	February 2026	St. Louis	60	47
Barkin	January 2028	Richmond	61	56
Williams	June 2028	New York	59	56
Daly	October 2028	San Francisco	58	55
Bostic	May 2031	Atlanta	55	51
Kashkari	July 2038	Minneapolis	48	42

*Announced he will retire early, on September 30, 2021.
**Announced he will retire early, on October 8, 2021.

Neel Kashkari, the youngest appointed of the current regional presidents, can serve through 2038. There is (at least) one technicality, though. Presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks are up for reappointment every five years. The Fed’s Board of Governors in Washington could replace any one of them, though it hasn’t ever done so.

The Fed governors in Washington serve fixed 14-year terms that are staggered; one term expires every two years. If a governor leaves before his or her term is up, their successor completes their term. Governors filling unexpired terms can still be appointed to a new one, meaning that they can serve for more than 14 years. Only two Fed governors however, have served for over 14 years in the past half-century of Fed history. The median term length was a little over 5 years. By law, the president cannot remove a governor except “for cause,” a legal term that means he would have to show that the person had done something wrong.

Fed Board Member	Age	Term Expires
Michelle Bowman	50	January 2034
Richard Clarida*	64	January 2022
Lael Brainard*	59	January 2026
Jerome Powell	68	January 2028
Randal Quarles	64	January 2032
Christopher Waller*	62	January 2030

*Filling an unexpired term, so could be reappointed.

Four of the Federal Reserve Board’s current members were initially appointed by Donald Trump (Bowman, Clarida, Quarles, and Waller). The one open seat on the Board is for a term that expires in 2024.