the federal open market committee (fomc), a committee within the federal reserve system (the fed), is charged under united states law with overseeing the nation's open market operations (i.e., the fed's buying and selling of united states treasury securities). it is this federal reserve committee which makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the united states money supply. it is the principal organ of united states national monetary policy. the committee sets monetary policy by specifying the short-term objective for the fed's open market operations, which is currently a target level for the federal funds rate (the rate that commercial banks charge between themselves for overnight loans). the fomc also directs operations undertaken by the federal reserve system in foreign exchange markets, although any intervention in foreign exchange markets is coordinated with the u.s. treasury, which has responsibility for formulating u.s. policies regarding the exchange value of the dollar. == membership == the federal open market committee was formed by the banking act of 1933 (codified at ), and did not include voting rights for the board of governors. the banking act of 1935 revised these protocols to include the board of governors and to closely resemble the present-day fomc, and was amended in 1942 to give the current structure of twelve voting members:"minneapolis fed" the seven members of the federal reserve board and five of the twelve federal reserve bank presidents. the federal reserve committee, and the other presidents serve one-year terms on a rotating basis. the rotating seats are filled from the following four groups of banks, one bank president from each group: boston, philadelphia, and richmond; cleveland and chicago; atlanta, st. louis, and dallas; and minneapolis, kansas city, and san francisco. the new york president always has a voting membership. all of the reserve bank presidents, even those who are not currently voting members of the fomc, attend committee meetings, participate in discussions
1933_establishments_in_the_United_States Committees Federal_Reserve