WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve announced Friday that governor Adriana Kugler will step down next week, opening up a spot on the central bank’s powerful board that President Donald Trump will be able to fill.
Kugler, who did not participate in the Fed’s policy meeting earlier this week, would have completed her term in January. Instead, she will retire Aug. 8. She did not provide a reason for stepping down in her resignation letter.
Trump has continued his attacks on the Fed since chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank would keep its short-term interest rate unchanged. Powell also said the Fed could take months to evaluate the impact of tariffs on the economy before deciding to cut rates, as Trump has demanded.
Powell is “a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, 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.
“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 labor markets and inflation,” she said in her resignation letter.
