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Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler announced Friday she will resign from the central bank’s board as of Aug. 8, leaving a key vacancy for President Trump to fill ahead of schedule.
Kugler, who was appointed to the Fed board by former President Biden and confirmed in 2023, will leave the bank six months before the end of her term in January 2026.
The Fed board consists of up to seven members — called governors — with staggered terms of 14 years. The lengths of those terms are fixed and do not restart when another member, such as Kugler, takes over a term that was partially served out by a predecessor.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler said. “I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”
It is common for Fed governors to leave the bank before their terms expire, especially when they are not expected to be renominated.
But Kugler’s departure comes amid unprecedented pressure on the Fed from Trump, who is eager to shift its leadership away from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump has pressured Powell to cut interest rates by staggering, crisis-level amounts or leave his post before the Fed chair’s term ends in February. Powell has resisted the pressure, insisting he will not leave before the end of his term nor make politically motivated decisions about rates.
Trump is likely to use Kugler’s spot on the Fed board to appoint his eventual successor for Powell, who could eventually be confirmed to a full 14-year term that would begin in February.
The positions of Fed chair, vice chair and vice chair of supervision are all filled by current members of the Fed board, but are filled through separate confirmation votes. The terms for the chairmanship and vice chairmanships each last four years.