Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may still be considering her next move, according to a recent interview Bloomberg held with U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
During the interview, Mnuchin explained that at their weekly breakfast Wednesday morning, the current Fed Chair indicated she hadn’t made any decisions yet about staying on at the Fed.
“I don’t think she’s made any decision in regards to that one way or another yet,” Mnuchin responded when asked if Yellen would stay on as a Fed governor.
If Yellen chooses not to stay on at the Fed, that could drop the number of governors at the Federal Reserve down to just three members of the Federal Open Markets Committee. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President and CEO William Dudley announced earlier this month that he intends to retire in mid-2018, confirming industry rumors.
This is on top of Randal Quarles taking over as the Fed’s vice chairman of supervision, a position previously held by Daniel Tarullo, who unexpectedly stepped down as a Fed Governor earlier this year.
And then back in October, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer retired for “personal reasons.” Fischer’s term as vice chair was not due to expire until June 12, 2018. His term as a Fed governor was not set to expire until Jan. 31, 2020.
President Donald Trump nominated Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the next Federal Reserve Chair at the beginning of November. Powell will begin his four-year term once current Chair Janet Yellen’s term is up in February 2018.
Now, Mnuchin explained the administration will now turn its attention to nominating people to the other positions such as the vice chair.
“I wouldn’t describe there’s a certain criteria,” Mnuchin said, answering that the administration is not necessarily looking for a PhD economist. “There’s a lot of things that we look at, but the vice chair is a very important position, and that’s something we’re already considering people for.”
Watch the full interview below:
Steve Mnuchin says Yellen hasn't decided on staying at the Fed yet https://t.co/ky6MCzV5Ur pic.twitter.com/Oc7MPVHKVQ
— Bloomberg (@business) November 8, 2017
