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Jerome Powell’s tenure as Fed Chairman
Jerome Powell became Fed Chairman in 2018. The next several years proved to be some of the most important in the Fed’s history. Now, Powell will step down as chairman later this week. To celebrate, we’ve created an interactive timeline below highlighting key moments from Powell’s time as Chairman.
all events
Rate determination
crisis and pressure
milestone
February 5, 2018 Milestone
Powell becomes the 16th Federal Reserve Chairman
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Powell, a lawyer and former Carlyle Group partner, is the first non-economist to lead the Fed since Paul Volcker. Nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate 84-13, she replaced Janet Yellen and inherited an economy with low inflation, low unemployment and a federal funds rate of 1.25% to 1.5%.
March 2020 crisis
Pandemic response: lowering interest rates to zero and restarting quantitative easing
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As COVID-19 froze the global economy, Powell’s Fed took two emergency steps — cutting interest rates by half a percentage point on March 3 and lowering them to a target range of 0% to 0.25% on March 15 — and launched a $700 billion round of purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. The intervention pushed mortgage rates to historic lows and supported a housing boom, but later drew criticism for fueling house price inflation.
About Mr. Powell’s QE record
Prices determined on March 17, 2022
Fed begins rate hike cycle to fight inflation
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After acknowledging that inflation was no longer a “transitory,” Chairman Powell led the Federal Open Market Committee to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. This is the first of 11 increases totaling 5.25 percentage points by July 2023. Mortgage rates would more than double throughout the cycle, freezing the housing market.
Prices determined on June 15, 2022
The biggest interest rate hike since 1994. Powell tells homebuyers: ‘We need to reset a little bit.’
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The Fed approved a 75 basis point interest rate hike, the largest since 1994, and Chairman Powell delivered the now-infamous message to the housing market that buyers needed to “reset” to bring supply, demand and interest rates back into balance. The comments were a test for an industry hit by rising interest rates.
Read Inman’s coverage
Milestone of May 23, 2022
Elected for second term under President Biden
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President Joe Biden renominated Powell despite opposition from progressives, citing the need for stable leadership amid soaring post-pandemic inflation. The Senate approved him 80-19 on May 12, and on May 23 he was sworn in as speaker for a four-year term that expires on May 15, 2026.
2022.08.26 Price determination
Jackson Hole’s ‘Pain’ Speech Shocks Markets
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In a hawkish speech at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, Chairman Powell warned that reining in inflation would require “some pain to households and businesses.” Stock prices fell and the prospect of further aggressive interest rate hikes became firmly visible.
See how the mortgage market reacts
March 22, 2023 Crisis
Fed forces through SVB, signature collapses
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Days after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank shook regional financial institutions, Mr. Powell led the Federal Open Market Committee in approving an additional 25 basis point rate hike and declaring the banking system “sound and resilient.” The Fed has signaled that its tightening campaign is nearing an end.
Read Inman’s coverage
Prices determined on July 26, 2023
End-of-cycle rate hike: Federal funds rate reaches 5.25%-5.5%
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The Fed’s 11th interest rate hike since March 2022 pushed the index to its highest level in 22 years. Mr. Powell will keep interest rates at this level for 14 months as policymakers await evidence of a sustained return to 2% inflation.
September 18, 2024 Milestone
Fed reverses course: cuts rate by 50 basis points for first time in four years
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The Fed, under Chairman Jerome Powell, began its easing cycle with the first major half-point rate cut since the pandemic. Michelle Bowman voted against it in favor of cutting interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, becoming the first Fed president to oppose a rate decision since 2005. Mortgage interest rates briefly hit 6.03%, the lowest level for 2024, but rose as bond market prices rose.
Read Inman’s coverage
2024.11.7 Price determination
Fed cuts interest rates again days after Trump’s reelection
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The Fed cut interest rates another quarter of a point in a meeting that was postponed for a day because of the election. Mr. Powell deflected questions about Mr. Trump’s victory, vowed that the Fed would be apolitical and said bluntly that he would not resign if asked.
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2025.01.29 Price determination
The Fed temporarily pauses interest rate cuts. President Trump’s pressure intensifies
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After cutting rates three times by a total of 1 percentage point at the end of 2024, Powell left rates unchanged, saying the Fed was in “no rush” to ease further as tariffs, immigration and tax changes pose new uncertainties. The decision sparked a year-long campaign of public criticism by President Trump.
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July 24, 2025 Pressure
President Trump tours Fed headquarters as renovation costs become a political flashpoint
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Cost overruns for renovating the Fed’s headquarters, rising from an estimated $1.9 billion to nearly $2.5 billion in 2021, became the basis for an unusual public pressure campaign. FHFA Secretary Bill Pruitt called for Powell’s resignation. Trump mused publicly about his removal from office. Mr. Powell staunchly defended the project and the Fed’s independence.
2025.08.22Prices decided
Powell signals change of direction in final Jackson Hole speech
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In his final speech at Jackson Hole, Chairman Powell said the “balance of risk” had shifted from inflation to employment and signaled a return to rate cuts. Mortgage interest rates plummeted in response to the news.
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2025.9.17 Price determination
The Fed resumes interest rate cuts. Only Trump appointee opposes larger move
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The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to cut interest rates by 25 basis points. Stephen Millan, a recent Trump appointee, disagreed, arguing for a half-point cut. Powell said housing was “the very center of monetary policy” but warned that the deeper problem was a nationwide shortage.
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2025.10.29 Price determination
Second cut in 2025. Fed announces end of quantitative tightening
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In a 10-2 vote, the Fed confirmed it would cut the balance sheet by another quarter of a point, suspending balance sheet runoffs on Dec. 1 and ending a three-year program that cut $2.2 trillion. But Mr Powell warned that mortgage rates would rise as December’s rate cut was “far from” the predicted conclusion.
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2025.12.10 Interest rate determination
Third cut of the year. Succession battle takes shape
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The Fed approved a quarter-point rate cut for the third time in a 9-3 vote. Mr Powell warned that official payroll data could overstate job creation by as much as 60,000 jobs a month. A few days earlier, the Fed’s board reappointed 11 of 12 regional bank presidents, a move that Fed watchers see as strengthening the central bank’s independence ahead of a change in leadership.
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January 2026 Crisis
The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Mr. Powell. Trump nominates Kevin Warsh
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The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into whether Powell misled Congress about the cost of the Fed’s overhaul, a move that former Fed Chairs Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen denounced as an “unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine the Fed’s independence.” On January 30, President Trump nominated former Federal Reserve Board member Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell.
April 24, 2026 Pressure
Justice Department closes Powell investigation, clears path for Warsh
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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that she would close the criminal investigation and turn the matter over to the Federal Reserve’s inspector general, but warned that she would “not hesitate” to reopen the probe. The move allowed Sen. Thom Tillis to lift his hold on Warsh’s confirmation.
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April 29, 2026 Milestone
Mr. Powell’s last meeting: interest rate unchanged, 4 dissenting opinions, and decision to remain
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In what is expected to be his final meeting as chairman, Mr. Powell led an 8-4 vote to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, the largest dissent for a single Federal Open Market Committee since 1992. Powell announced at a news conference that he would remain on the Fed’s board after his chairmanship ends on May 15, saying that legal attacks against him left him with “no choice but to stay.” He will be the first chairman to remain on the board since Marriner Eccles in 1948.
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Milestone of May 15, 2026
His term as chairman has ended. The beginning of the Warsh era
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Powell’s four-year term as chairman will officially end after more than eight years. He is expected to remain on the Fed board until January 2028. Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to replace Powell.
Sources include reporting from the Federal Reserve, NPR, CNBC, CNN, and Inman. Created on April 30, 2026.
