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Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is facing the most consequential interest rate decision day of his nascent term.
Warsh has vowed a much quieter, less interventionist central bank, but an apex of challenges now stands in the way. Chiefly, he faces a standoff with President Donald Trump if he fulfills expectations to make way for a rate increase, a course correction from his prior instinct to keep rates steady.
The chairman will also hold his first press conference following revelations that he and Trump have spoken by phone multiple times since taking the helm of the agency. It also follows a renewed effort by the administration to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a signal of how political pressure that once beset his predecessor is seeping into Warsh’s tenure.
That pressure only further complicates escalating calls for the Fed to raise interest rates to tame inflation. A rate hike, however, would directly challenge Trump. |
