Fed official announces surprise retirement, opening new avenue for Trump influence at central bank

By Greg Robb

Raphael Bostic says he will step down as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta early next year

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic.

Raphael Bostic, a housing expert who has served as president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank for eight years, on Wednesday announced his decision to retire early next year.

Bostic is the first black and openly gay president of a regional Fed bank in the central bank's 111-year history. His tenure was marred by a trading scandal in 2022 in which he failed to disclose some of his financial transactions on required reports, including some made during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Fed was taking extraordinary actions to prop up the economy. The Fed's inspector general found that Bostic violated the Fed's internal rules but did not violate any laws.

Bostic has said he did not make the trades himself.

The spotlight will be on the appointment of a new president at the Atlanta Fed, as President Donald Trump has made clear he is seeking more control of the central bank in part because he wants to see interest rates cut. Bostic was in the camp of officials who were reluctant to cut rates aggressively.

In August, Trump said he had fired Fed governor Lisa Cook from the bank's board in Washington, D.C., but that move has been delayed, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments in January over the legality of his action. Trump will be able to pick a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term as chair ends in May.

The presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks are up for reappointment in March as part of a process that takes place every five years.

The seven-member Fed board of governors in Washington could replace any of them, though it hasn't ever done so, David Wessel, a senior fellow at at the Brookings Institution, noted in a recent paper.

Bostic's decision to leave in late February means he will avoid the reappointment process.

The Atlanta Fed's board of directors will form a search committee made up of some of its nonbanking members to conduct a nationwide search for the next president. Their decision is subject to approval by the Fed board in Washington.

-Greg Robb

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11-12-25 1027ET