Jerome Powell Stays Fed Board Under Warsh: No Precedent Since 1948

# Jerome Powell Stays Fed Board Under Warsh: No Precedent Since 1948

> **Quick answer:** Jerome Powell's chair term ends May 15, 2026, but his governor term runs to January 2028 — meaning he stays on the FOMC as a regular voting member under incoming Chair Kevin Warsh. The last time a departing Fed chair remained on the board was Marriner Eccles in 1948. Every dissent vote Powell casts against Warsh's decisions will be read by bond markets as a policy credibility signal.

Jerome Powell stays on the Federal Reserve board under Warsh in an arrangement with no modern precedent — and the bond market implications could extend well beyond May 15. As Warsh's Senate confirmation vote is expected Wednesday May 13 and Powell formally becomes a regular governor just two days later, the Fed is entering genuinely uncharted institutional territory.

## What Is Actually Happening: The Timeline

The sequence of events this week is precise and consequential. Kevin Warsh is expected to receive a Senate floor confirmation vote on Wednesday, May 13. Jerome Powell's term as chair of the Federal Reserve expires on Friday, May 15, 2026. On that day, Powell does not leave the building — he simply moves from the head of the table to a seat at it.

Powell's concurrent term as a member of the Board of Governors runs until January 31, 2028. Under the Federal Reserve Act, a board governor serves a full 14-year term. Powell announced publicly at the April 29 FOMC meeting — his final meeting as chair — that he would remain on the board "for a period of time to be determined," citing a DOJ investigation into the Fed's headquarters renovation project. That investigation was subsequently dropped and referred to the Fed's inspector general, but Powell's stated intent did not change.