Jerome “Jay” Powell was confirmed for a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The 80-19 vote comes amidst a number of contentious and partisan confirmations to the central bank and the other financial regulators.
Powell’s first term, which ended in February, oversaw a tumultuous economic period in the United States and globally as the COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty and financial instability to many people’s lives. The Fed’s primary tool during that time was near-zero interest rates which promoted spending as a means of keeping the economy stable.
However, the low interest rates and high spending have led to record inflations rates the Fed must now tackle while attempting to avoid an economic retraction or recession.
“Inflation is much too high,” Powell said in a press conference earlier this month. “We understand the hardship it is causing and we're moving expeditiously to bring it back down.”
Under Powell’s leadership, the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee has begun an aggressive campaign of rate hikes aimed at getting the rate of inflation to more manageable levels by 2024.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who chairs the Senate banking committee which oversees the Fed, praised Powell as "a reliable voice and a steady hand" throughout the pandemic and the economic turmoil that followed.
Some critics have said Powell and the Fed were too slow to see the inflation spike and even slower to respond to it. Powell and his colleagues believed the increase in inflation was a temporary side effect of the lowering of interest rates during the pandemic and had not prepared for it to last as long as it has.
Powell has said that the Fed will remain committed to bringing down prices and will use all the tools at its disposal.