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1 1 (October 4, 2017)

handle is hein.crs/govcivs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Cong ressin, l Resea rch Sevice Federal Reserve: Background and Reappointment of Previous Chairs October 4, 2017 Janet Yellen's term as Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair expires February 3, 2018. Subject to Senate confirmation, President Trump may reappoint her or nominate another individual to replace her. This Insight reviews the reappointment and background of previous Fed Chairs. The qualification requirements to serve in Fed leadership are general-statute requires the President to have due regard to a fair representation of the financial, agricultural, industrial, and commercial interests, and geographical divisions of the country. Yellen and her immediate predecessor, Ben Bernanke, had similar backgrounds-both were PhD economists with previous experience at the Fed, in the executive branch (both were Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers), and in academia. Since the Fed's beginning in 1914, the 15 Fed Chairs have had diverse educational and professional backgrounds. For background on the Fed, the nation's central bank, see CRS In Focus IF 10054, Introduction to Financial Services: The Federal Reserve, by Marc Labonte. Reappointment The President appoints Fed governors to a 14-year term, subject to Senate confirmation. Governors may not be reappointed after having served one complete 14-year term, but may be reappointed if they served out only the partial remainder of a term. The President appoints one of the governors as Chair, subject to Senate confirmation, for a 4-year renewable term. A fixed term with reappointment for the Chair was not added to the Federal Reserve Act until 1935. Overall, six of eight Chairs eligible for reappointment-including five of the last six Fed Chairs preceding Chair Yellen-were reappointed at least once, as shown in Table 1. Four were reappointed by a different President-in each case, by Presidents from different parties for at least one of their terms. The two Chairs not to be reappointed at least once were (1) G. William Miller, who left the Fed to become Treasury Secretary, and (2) Thomas McCabe, who was forced to resign over policy differences. If not reappointed as Chair, Yellen could choose to remain on the board until her term as governor expires in 2024, but this is rare. The last Chair to do so was Marriner Eccles, who was not reappointed as Chair in 1948, but remained as governor until 1951. Three other Chairs could potentially have been reappointed to additional terms, but were not. According to Allan Meltzer's A History of the Federal Reserve, Arthur Burns was not reappointed to a third term by President Carter and Paul Volcker did not seek a third term. Ben Bernanke did not seek a third term, according to his autobiography. (Alan Greenspan and William McChesney Martin Jr. were not eligible to serve additional terms.) CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and cornnittees o4 Congress ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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