No—not as Federal Reserve chair. Jerome Powell’s chair term ended on May 22, 2026, when Kevin Warsh took office. Powell remains a Federal Reserve governor through January 31, 2028, however, and removing him from that separate Board seat would raise a distinct legal question that has not been decided in a Powell-specific ruling.
What changed: Powell left the chair, not the Federal Reserve Board
The title’s present-tense premise is outdated. The Federal Reserve Board lists Powell’s chair service as running from February 5, 2018, through May 22, 2026. Warsh took the oath as chair and as a Board member that day, and the Federal Open Market Committee selected him as its chair. On May 15, the Board had named Powell chair pro tempore while the transition was pending.
Powell’s governor term is separate from his chair term. The Board lists that term as ending January 31, 2028, and its September 2026 voting record shows him participating as a governor. So Powell no longer holds the chair office, but he has not left the Board.
Chair or governor: the two different removal questions
| Question | Status as of September 28, 2026 | Why the distinction matters |
|---|---|---|
| Can Trump remove or replace Powell as chair? | Powell’s chair term ended May 22, 2026; Kevin Warsh is chair. | The chair has a separate four-year term and is nominated by the President from among the Board’s members. |
| Could Trump remove Powell as a governor before his term ends? | Powell remains a governor through January 31, 2028. | This would concern his Board membership and the disputed application of the for-cause removal framework, not his former chair role. |
The Board of Governors is central to the Fed’s monetary-policy structure: its members are part of the Federal Open Market Committee, which also includes the New York Fed president and four rotating Reserve Bank presidents. The Board described the FOMC as a 12-member body in a page last updated September 16, 2026.
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What the law says—and what it does not settle
The Federal Reserve Act does not spell out removal grounds in the way a simple “fire at will” rule would. A Congressional Research Service report dated January 8, 2026, describes the longstanding understanding that governors may be removed only for cause, while discussing unresolved questions about how the statute and constitutional doctrine apply, including to the chair role.
That means it would be too broad to say the law definitively bars any attempt to remove Powell, or that it gives the President an established power to remove him for policy disagreements. The meaning and scope of “for cause” remain contested, and no ruling cited here decides a hypothetical attempt to remove Powell as governor. Disagreement with interest-rate policy, by itself, is not established here as a legally sufficient cause.
The Supreme Court’s 2026 Lisa Cook matter concerns an attempted removal of another Federal Reserve governor. It is relevant background to the broader legal debate, but it is not a decision about Powell and should not be treated as one.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Powell said during the dispute
In a statement dated January 11, 2026, amid a criminal investigation, Powell wrote: “No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law.” He also said the issue was whether the Fed could keep setting rates based on evidence and economic conditions or whether policy would instead be directed by political pressure or intimidation.
Those words state Powell’s position on the dispute and the importance he placed on the Fed’s independence; they are not a court’s legal finding. The practical answer now turns on the office at issue: the chair position has already changed hands, while Powell’s remaining Board term continues.
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