Jerome H. Powell is stepping down as chair of the Federal Reserve, closing out an eight-year tenure that spanned a pandemic, historic inflation, and aggressive rate hikes. He’s not leaving the building entirely, though. Powell announced he will stay on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after relinquishing the chair.
The tenure that shaped modern monetary policy
Powell took the chair on February 5, 2018, appointed by then-President Donald Trump. His term as chair was set to run through May 2026, meaning this departure comes before the clock fully ran out.
Powell has said he “long planned on retiring” from the role, but a series of political and legal pressures complicated the timeline. In March 2026, a court ruling quashed grand jury subpoenas that had been aimed at Powell, a striking indication of the degree to which political forces attempted to pressure him toward the exit.
In January 2026, 11 major central banks issued a joint statement expressing solidarity with Powell during what had become an unusually hostile political environment for a Fed chair. Through it all, Powell stayed focused on the Fed’s inflation mandate. His reasoning for not leaving sooner, by his own account, was a desire to see through the work on bringing inflation back to target. The Fed’s aggressive rate-hiking cycle, which began in 2022, represented one of the most dramatic tightening campaigns in decades.
