Fed's Bostic Announces Retirement At End of Term

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic announced he plans to retire at the end of his current term in February.

Bostic, 59, who took the helm at the Atlanta Fed in 2017, is the first African American and the first openly gay person to lead a regional Fed bank. He will step down on Feb. 28, the Atlanta Fed said in a statement.

“I’m proud of what we accomplished during my tenure to turn the lofty goal of an economy that works for everyone into more of a reality, and I look forward to discovering new ways to advance that bold vision in my next chapter,” Bostic said in the Wednesday statement.

Bostic is scheduled to deliver a speech on his economic outlook at the Atlanta Economics Club this afternoon. Bloomberg's Enda Curran reports.

Bostic has been vocal this year about the risks of lingering inflation, urging his colleagues to be cautious about lowering interest rates and to be watchful for the potential effects of tariffs.

While he doesn’t vote on monetary policy decisions this year, Bostic said he supported the Fed’s two rate reductions in September and October. He has emphasized, however, that monetary policy should remain restrictive while inflation is still above the central bank’s 2% goal.

Bostic faced scrutiny in 2022 and again in 2023 over financial transactions that violated the Fed’s investment rules for policymakers. In both cases, Bostic said his investment manager made trades on his behalf during restricted periods. He also disclosed that some transactions had been inadvertently omitted from his financial disclosures.

Bostic said he was not aware of the specific trades or the timing of the transactions, which were made by a third-party manager. A report released last year by the Fed’s internal watchdog found no evidence that he made trades based on confidential information.

His departure will further shake up the US central bank at a time when it’s experiencing other high-profile personnel changes and unprecedented political pressure from the President Donald Trump to lower borrowing costs. Bostic will leave a few months before the Fed comes under new leadership, with Chair Jerome Powell’s tenure at the head of the central bank set to end in May.

WATCH: Mike McKee reports on Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic announcing his plans to retire at the end of his current term in February.

The Trump administration has also been weighing options for exerting more influence over the Fed’s regional banks as a way to expand its sway over interest rates.

All 12 regional Fed presidents have five-year terms that end on Feb. 28. They are eligible for reappointment after a review process that is currently underway.

Cheryl Venable, first vice president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta Fed, will step in as interim president if a new leader is not appointed by Feb. 28. The Atlanta Fed will next hold a voting position on the Federal Open Market Committee in 2027.

In the statement, Powell said it was a “privilege” to have served alongside Bostic.

“His leadership has strengthened our institution and advanced the Federal Reserve’s mission,” he said.

The Atlanta Fed said its board of directors will form a search committee and that new details about the process will be announced later.

Prior to joining the Atlanta Fed, Bostic was a professor at the University of Southern California and previously worked at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration.(Updates in seventh paragraph with additional background.)To contact the reporter on this story:

Jonnelle Marte in Atlanta at jmarte5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:

Christopher Condon at ccondon4@bloomberg.net

Matthew Boesler

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