Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Coogler has stepped down and is giving President Donald Trump an opening to fill.
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Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler has stepped down from the central bank’s board, and President Donald Trump is giving Badger Fed officials the opportunity to appoint early replacements in a month-long campaign to cut interest rates.
The announcement comes just two days after the Fed said it would stabilize key interest rates despite increasing pressure from Trump to trim. Two Trump-appointed board members, lower fees, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller opposed the decision. Coogler missed the vote.
Coogler’s resignation gives Trump the opportunity to at least partially shape his Fed’s makeup to his preferences before her original departure date. Biden-appointed governor, Coogler, was scheduled to join the seven-member committee in 2023 and serve until January 2026.
Coogler did not provide a reason for their departure on August 8th. A statement from the Fed said she will return to Georgetown University this fall as a professor.
In a letter to President Donald Trump, Coogler said it was a “lifelong honor” to serve the Fed’s board.
“I am particularly honored to serve at a critical time in order to achieve the dual mission of lowering prices and maintaining a strong and resilient labor market,” Kugler said. “The Federal Reserve has done a vital job of promoting a healthy economy and it has been a privilege to work towards that goal on behalf of all Americans for nearly two years.”
In a July 30 memo, Comerica Bank chief economist Bill Adams noted that Trump may use the opening of the cooler to appoint a replacement chair for Jerome Powell.
Powell, who was appointed Trump in 2017, will serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve in May 2026. In June, Trump said he was looking for a new Fed chair and narrowed his search to “three or four.”
Adams said Trump’s next choice for chairs could be a member of the current Federal Open Market Committee or external employment.
“The next chair will probably take a different approach to monetary policy than Powell, but it’s hard to say. It discourages Powell himself from being Trump’s appointee,” Adams wrote on July 30. “In any case, the Fed seems likely to cut interest rates between now and when Powell’s term ends, which makes it difficult to move.”
