Reply #5: A resignation

[Alcibiades]

These positions are not partisan political appointments in the sense of those appointments to the cabinet or even elsewhere in the executive branch. Under statute, the are insulated from the political process somewhat by being appointed to fixed terms. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serves a four-year term, the FBI Director a 10-year term, and the Fed Chair serves a four-year term.

It may be status quo, but it is built into the system that way. It would take a resignation, impeachment or an act of Congress. It is probably true that someone incumbent in one of thse jobs would resign at the request of the president, but there's not statutory requirement that they do so--in fact, the fact that this is not the case is an effort to insulate these jobs from the vagaries of partisan politics. The article does a pretty bad job of spelling out why this is the case.