Wednesday is likely to mark Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s last policy meeting and press conference as chair of the central bank.
Less clear is whether Powell will remain on the board as a governor.
His term as chair concludes May 15, but Powell could continue as a governor until 2028. Members of the Fed are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for 14-year terms.
Until last Friday, questions swirled about whether Powell’s intended successor, Kevin Warsh, would be in place by the May 15 deadline. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina was blocking Warsh’s nominaton from moving out of the banking committee as long as a Justice Department investigation into Powell remained unresolved.
On Friday, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the Justice Department was closing its investigation and handing it off to the Fed’s inspector general. On Sunday, Tillis told “Meet the Press” that he was ready to support Warsh’s confirmation.
“We anticipate that Chair Powell will want ‘to see what happens’ before stepping down from the Board, with the Inspector General’s report the next likely key checkpoint,” Piper Sandler head of central bank policy Kurt Lewis said.
Powell himself has left the matter open.
In a press conference in March, Powell said he had “no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality.” Whether the handoff from DOJ to the Fed’s watchdog meets that bar, only Powell knows.
He further said he had not decided whether he would remain a governor once a new chair was in place and the investigation was concluded.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Dec. 10, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) · Reuters / REUTERS A case for ‘institutional continuity’
EY chief economist Gregory Daco wrote in a client note Monday that he thinks Powell will continue to serve on the board, but for institutional continuity, not politics.
Warsh has signaled that he wants to recalibrate how the Fed operates, calling for “regime change,” proposing a new inflation framework, a smaller balance sheet, and changes in communication.
Warsh told Senate lawmakers during his confirmation hearing last week that he believes Fed members should speak less frequently, pull back forward guidance, and stop telegraphing what the central bank will do before interest rate meetings.
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He did not commit to holding a press conference after every policy meeting, a practice put in place by Powell that is closely watched by investors.
Daco said a Fed under Warsh’s leadership points to a more centralized, less transparent, and potentially more politically exposed policy framework.
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