Meet the 2017 FOMC

Out with the old and in with the new. It happens every year with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the regional bank presidents who have a vote on that committee. The turnover occurs January 1, and it’s important to know who the new voters will be since their policy views will go a long way toward shaping the outlook for the global economy and the capital markets.
A Little Background
When it is at full capacity, there are twelve voting members on the FOMC: the seven members of the Board of Governors and five of the twelve Federal Reserve Bank presidents.
The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has a permanent vote on the committee, so the remaining four presidents with a vote rotate annually. They serve one-year terms beginning on January 1 each year. Other Federal Reserve bank presidents attend the FOMC meetings and contribute to the discussions, but they do not cast a vote for setting policy.
The members of the Board of Governors are nominated by the President of the United States and are confirmed by the Senate. There are currently two vacancies on the Board of Governors. Consequently, there are only ten voting members on the FOMC at the moment.
As an aside, President Obama nominated Allan Landon and Kathryn Dominguez to fill the two vacancies on the Board of Governors, yet neither had a confirmation hearing. Neither will be having a confirmation hearing either considering there will be a Republican president in 2017 who will be making his own nominations for those open seats. Those confirmation hearings are certain to be held, too, by the GOP-controlled Senate, so the Federal Open Market Committee will be operating again at full strength in due time.

This post was published at FinancialSense on 12/05/2016.