Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will step down from the central bank in the last week of December.
Quarles joined the Board of Federal Reserve in 2017. He was appointed by the Trump Administration.
Up until October of this year, Quarles served as the Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision. He was removed from that role as the main watchdog of Wall Street after his 4 year mandate officially expired.
In October, the Fed announced publicly in a statement that Quarles role as the bank watchdog had ended. They made the announcement as a response to questions from the banks and Democrats regarding the position of the Trump appointee.
The resignation of Quarles gives way to the White House, which wondered lately regarding the allegiance of Quarles and if he would slow down the leadership overhaul that the Biden Administration was planning for the Fed.
Quarles could have stayed in his governor position, because he was not required by law to resign. In fact, many of his Republican friends had asked him to stay at least until 2022.
This exit gives more power to Lael Brainard, who is expected take over from Jerome Powell the leadership of the Fed as the Chairwoman. Democrats have made it clear that they will not support a second term for Powell. One of the Democrats that took a lead on this issue was Senator Elizabeth Warren. Brainard is the only sitting governor on the Board of Fed appointed by a Democrat who is seen as a contender for all three leadership positions in the organization.
This now leaves President Biden to fill four jobs at The Fed.
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