The Fed chair could face a grilling at his confirmation hearing. Here’s what to watch.

Trading scandal. A handful of Fed officials traded for their own portfolios just before and after the central bank swooped in to rescue a wide array of markets at the pandemic’s onset in 2020.

News of the trades broke in September, but they have stayed in the headlines and some officials have resigned over the issue. The Fed’s vice chair, Richard H. Clarida, announced on Monday that he was stepping down early. He didn’t give a reason, but he faces scrutiny over one of his 2020 transactions, the full extent of which was disclosed only when he corrected his financial filings in December. That makes him the third official to leave the central bank early since the news reports started, something out of the ordinary for the usually tame central bank.