Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler|Image Credit: KYLIE COOPER/Reuters
The Federal Reserve revealed Friday that guv Adriana Kugler will step down next week, opening an area on the reserve bank’s effective board that President Donald Trump will have the ability to fill.
Kugler, who did not take part in the Fed’s policy conference previously today, would have finished her term in January. Rather, she will retire August 8. She did not supply a factor for stepping down in her resignation letter.
Trump has actually continued his attacks on the Fed because chair Jerome Powell stated Wednesday that the reserve bank would keep its short-term rates of interest the same. Powell likewise stated the Fed might take months to examine the effect of tariffs on the economy before choosing to cut rates, as Trump has actually required.
Powell is “a persistent MORON, need to significantly lower rate of interest, NOW,” Trump posted early Friday morning, before the monthly jobs report was released. That report showed hiring slowed in July and was much lower in May and June than had been initially reported.
Kugler was appointed to the Fed’s seven-member board of governors by former President Joe Biden in September 2023. She was the first Hispanic Fed governor, and prior to joining the Fed, was a professor at Georgetown University and was the U.S. representative to the World Bank. She will return to the Georgetown faculty in the fall.
Kugler reflects on tenure, will return to Academia
“I am proud to have tackled this role with integrity, a strong commitment to serving the public, and with a data-driven approach strongly based on my expertise in labour markets and inflation,” she said in her resignation letter.
In her last speech as a Fed governor two weeks ago, Kugler expressed support for Powell’s view that the central bank should keep rates unchanged while officials monitor the economy to see how Trump’s tariffs affect inflation and the economy.
Trump, meanwhile, has said he will appoint Fed officials who favour cutting rates.
Powell’s post-2026 role remains unclear
One complication is that Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026. But his position on the Fed’s governing board lasts through January 2028. As a result, he could stay on the board even after stepping down as chair, and simply remain as one of seven governors.
There is some precedent for such a step: Marriner Eccles, who served as Fed chair in the 1930s, remained on the board after completing his term as chair.
If Powell took such a step, that would mean whomever the Trump administration chose to replace Kugler could then be elevated to chair after Powell finishes as chair in May 2026. In other words, to get their choice of Fed Chair in 2026, the Trump White House may choose to appoint that person to replace Kugler as governor, and then elevate them to Fed chair in May 2026.
Powell has declined to answer at the last two press conferences whether he will leave the board when he is done as chair.
Published on August 2, 2025
