Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler announced Friday she will step down from her position on the Fed’s board effective Aug. 8, handing President Donald Trump an opening on the central bank that he has lambasted relentlessly for months.
Trump now has the ability to immediately put someone on the Fed who might be more sympathetic to his push for lower interest rates, and it could potentially be the only seat open on the central bank until 2028, if Fed Chair Jerome Powell decides to stay on the Fed board after his chairmanship ends in May.
That dynamic makes it likely that Kugler’s replacement will be Trump’s choice to succeed Powell, although the president has also considered elevating Christopher Waller, an existing board member, to the position of chair. That could create an unusual situation in which both the current and future Fed chairs serve simultaneously for an extended period, possibly giving confusing signals to markets.
Kugler’s term was set to expire in January, and she did not specify why she was leaving early, but the Fed said in a press release that she would be returning to Georgetown University as a professor this fall. Kugler, a former World Bank official, was nominated to the board by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023.
“It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,” Kugler wrote in a resignation letter to Trump on Friday. “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.”
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has been the particular target of Trump’s ire, wished Kugler well.
“I appreciate Dr. Kugler’s service on the Board and wish her very well in her future endeavors,” Powell said in the release. “She brought impressive experience and academic insights to her work on the Board.”
Kugler did not attend this week’s rate meeting because of a personal matter, a Fed spokesperson said earlier this week.
