Friday, January 30, 2026 at 6:59 PM
St.
Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem indicated that further interest rate cuts are unnecessary unless the job market weakens or inflation decreases, emphasizing the current policy rate as neutral and supportive of economic growth.
Officials offered little clarity on when cuts might resume. Two governors favored a rate reduction.
President Trump has demanded that Fed Chair Jerome Powell cut rates. But it isn’t the Fed chair alone who sets them. Here is who does.
Fed governor Michelle Bowman said she supported the decision to hold rates, but also could have voted in favor of continuing to remove policy restraint to hedge more against the risk of further labor market deterioration.
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook sees a greater threat to the economy from elevated inflation than from a weakening labor market, a stance that suggests she could be skeptical of supporting a return to rate cuts.
