Top Fed Official To Quit, Giving Trump Key Vacancy To Fill

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Adriana Kugler will resign from her position later this month, the Fed announced on Friday.

Kugler, who has served on the Reserve’s Board of Governors since September 2023, is stepping down Aug. 8, according to a press release. She is planning to return to Georgetown University as a professor this fall.

“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler said in a statement. “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.”

“I appreciate Dr. Kugler’s service on the Board and wish her very well in her future endeavors,” Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said in a prepared statement. “She brought impressive experience and academic insights to her work on the Board.”

The news comes after President Donald Trump publicly criticized Powell for not lowering interest rates this year. The president has also repeatedly called for the Fed chairman’s resignation over the Fed refusing to slash rates.

Despite this, Powell has reportedly informed some close allies and associates that he intends to serve out the rest of his term as Fed chairman, which ends in May 2026. Additionally, some Trump allies have floated the idea of naming a “shadow Fed chair” ahead of the end of Powell’s term, Axios reported on Friday.