BRIEFLY: Clarida resignation will leave three seats open on Fed Board; Powell testifies for a second term as chair

(Jan. 14, 2022) There will soon be three vacancies on the governing board of the nation’s central bank, as the current vice chair resigned, effective today (Jan. 14). Citing only the fact that his term as Federal Reserve Board member expires at the end of the month, Vice Chair Richard Clarida tendered his resignation to the White House from the agency leadership. His resignation will leave three empty seats on the seven-member board. Also empty: the role filled by a sitting governor as vice chair for supervision (vacant since Randal Quarles resigned last month). Lael Brainard has been nominated to replace Clarida as board vice chair; a confirmation hearing was held for her Thursday. If confirmed, her term in that role would run to 2026, the same year her Fed board chair term ends … Meanwhile, in his own confirmation hearing for a reappointment (for a four-year term) as Fed chair, Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell said that, if confirmed, the Fed “will remain vigilant about new and emerging threats” to financial stability. He also said the agency, while he has been chair, intensified its focus and supervisory efforts on evolving threats such as climate change and cyberattacks, and improved public access to instant payments.