Jerome Powell to stay on Fed board after term as chair ends

3 min readUpdated April 29, 2026

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he will remain on the central bank's Board of Governors after his term as chair ends on May 15. The move would mark the first such instance of a departing Fed chair remaining on the board since 1948. And it would be a blow to President Donald Trump, who has mounted a relentless pressure campaign to get Powell to lower interest rates, and would be deprived of the chance to nominate someone to replace Powell at the Fed.

"My decisions on these matters will continue to be guided entirely by what I believe is in the best interest of the institution and the people we serve after my term as chair ends on May 15, and will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined," Powell said during his new conference after the Fed again decided to keep interest rates steady.

A widely criticized Justice Department investigation into renovations at the Fed's Washington headquarters — dropped only last week — also shaped Powell's calculus. He said he wanted that matter fully closed before departing the board. Federal prosecutors have left open the possibility of reviving the case under certain circumstances.

"I've said that I will not leave the board until this investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality, and I stand by that," he said.

Powell's announcement came on the same day the Fed held its benchmark interest rate steady at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, in what is expected to be his final rate decision as chair. Four policymakers broke from the majority, producing a split that CNBC reported was the sharpest internal divide at the Fed in more than three decades.

The split reflected competing views on both the direction of rates and whether the Fed's statement should signal further cuts ahead. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran voted for an immediate quarter-point reduction, while Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lorie Logan supported holding rates but objected to language in the committee's statement that implied an easing bias.

His continued presence as a governor would give Powell a platform to push back against any efforts to steer monetary policy for political ends, even after Warsh takes over. On the same day, the Senate Banking Committee sent Warsh's nomination to the full chamber, with every Republican voting in favor and every Democrat opposed. The full Senate is widely expected to confirm him.

Powell's tenure has been marked by sustained friction with the Trump administration, including public pressure for rate cuts and the now-dropped DOJ investigation. That probe had itself complicated Warsh's path to confirmation: Republican Sen. Thom Tillis had vowed to block Fed nominees until it was closed, and only withdrew his objection after the DOJ announced it was dropping the case.

The Fed's written statement flagged inflation as elevated, citing rising global energy costs, and identified Middle East developments as a source of uncertainty for the economic outlook.

Jerome Powell says he will remain on the Fed board after stepping down as chair

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