Who Are the Fed Speakers to Watch in 2026? A New Front-Runner for the Fed Chair

[Ben Graham]

In this short piece, we will dive into who will be the Federal Reserve Voters for 2026.

It is extremely essential to keep an eye on what current and next-year voters are saying in their appearances, as their speeches and comments can trigger massive reactions in Markets and potentially open up trade opportunities.

Naturally, traders should always keep an eye on the Fed Chair, who appears occasionally but also provides Market-moving testimonies twice a year, traditionally around the end of February and the end of June.

There have been numerous examples of appearances from Fed Speakers which have changed the trajectory of markets and the pricing for the upcoming meeting.

Some recent examples include Governor Waller through his pre-Jackson Hole mention of a dovish trajectory for the Fed towards the end of 2025, which preceded an even more dovish appearance from Chair Powell at the yearly Symposium.

But even more pertinent is the recent speech from NY Fed President Williams, which helped to take the pricing of a 25 bps cut from 20% to 90%, leading to the actual cut from the past week.

Permanent Voters

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Permanent Fed Voters – December 15, 2025

In case you did not know, Board Members and the NY Fed President retain permanent voting seats for FOMC meetings.

This was a crucial reason for President Trump to make sure that board members are tagging along with his dovish envies—especially with Chair Powell’s term ending in May 2026.

• Jerome Powell (Chair): The big question for 2026. Will he stay, or will Trump appoint a new Chair to aggressively slash rates?
• NY Fed's Williams: The Vice-Chair of the FOMC and the key "centrist" voice.
  
• The Board of Governors: This includes Philip Jefferson, Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman Christopher Waller
• Fed's Miran, replacing Adriana Kugler since her resigning, is part of the Board but serving a temporary mandate until further news – Fed Chair Powell may take his seat when his term finishes if he does not resign.
• Fed's Lisa Cook is still part of the Board. With her court case still pending, she cannot participate at FOMC Meetings.

2026 Voters and their Hawkish/Dovish bias

Four members will take the voting seat at the next FOMC meeting (January 28, 2026).

The voters for 2026, essentially the Speakers to keep your eyes on are:

• Dallas Fed's Logan (very Hawkish)
• Cleveland Fed's Hammack (Neutral)
• Minneapolis Fed's Kashkari (Neutral but leaning more hawkish)
• Philly Fed's Paulson (Dovish)

Keep in mind that biases also have an influence: when a dovish member makes a hawkish comment (or vice-versa), the impact tends to be much larger.

2025 regional voters, will be less relevant for 2026:

• Collins, Goolsbee (both neutral)
• Musalem (Hawkish)
• Schmid (Most Hawkish)

Who will be the Next appointed Fed Chair?

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Who will be the next Fed Chair? December 15, 2025 – Source: Kalshi

One of the major causes for Market anxiety has been who to appoint as the next Fed Chair.

President Trump wants to see rates coming down, but also wants Stock Markets to stay confident.

Kevin Hassett is not supported by Wall Street, so he might no be the President's choice.

For that reason, odds for "the other Kevin" went up so much Kevin Warsh, a Fed Governor from 2006 to 2011.

He will surely be leaning dovish but also maintains some reputation with his past experience.

The appointee for the Fed Chair will then have to get officially approved by the Senate after Trump's appointment.

The decision should be taken by the end of January 2026.

Safe Trades!

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