{"id":512,"date":"2026-06-17T18:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:12:09","slug":"kevin-warshs-first-interest-rates-decision-keep-things-steady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The Federal Reserve\u2019s new chair, under immense pressure from President Donald Trump to lower interest rates, is keeping rates steady for now.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Broadview Six\u2019 Activists Want an Investigation Into Their Botched Prosecution<\/a><\/p>\n

It was the first test of Kevin Warsh\u2019s commitment to maintaining the independence of the central bank as Trump continues to call for sweeping rate cuts.<\/p>\n

The Federal Open Market Committee maintained rates at 3.5 to 3.75% on Wednesday, citing economic uncertainty in the Middle East and high inflation. <\/i><\/b>All twelve<\/b>members, including Warsh, voted to hold rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong.<\/p>\n

Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.\u201d <\/i><\/b>the committee wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n

The committee also removed<\/b>the easing bias, language that indicates the committee seeks to lower rates in its next meeting. Warsh has said the Fed should reel in its communications to the public about its policymaking, with Fed governors making fewer public appearances and the central bank releasing fewer economic forecasts, including \u201cdot plot\u201d projections.<\/p>\n

That easing language was absent from the Fed\u2019s statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Warsh\u2019s calls to limit the Fed\u2019s public communications rankled some on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I agree with Kevin on that, but he deserves to try it his way, and it may work better,\u201d Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very uneasy when the head of any government agency says they would like less transparency into their actions and thinking,\u201d said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), who has accused Warsh of serving as Trump\u2019s \u201csock puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economists widely expected the committee to cut the easing bias and maintain rates, as the Iran war supercharged inflation and Trump\u2019s fluctuating tariff rates raised prices for consumers. The Trump administration has argued that oil prices will plummet when the Strait of Hormuz reopens, following the pending U.S. peace deal with Iran<\/u><\/span>, but economists predict high prices for food<\/u><\/span> and consumer goods will linger for months.<\/p>\n

As Warsh confronts the choice of whether to deliver on Trump\u2019s hopes for low rates, the economic and political environment is becoming less favorable to rate cuts.<\/p>\n

The Federal Reserve has kept<\/b>interest rates steady since December due in part to deep economic uncertainty stemming from the Middle East conflict. The annual inflation rate has accelerated each month since the war began, hitting 4.2% in May after cooling in the new year. The Fed aims to push inflation back down to 2%.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe signals are probably not pointing towards cutting interest rates, but at the same time that would risk angering President Trump. But since again, President Trump\u2019s current approval rating is low, the cost of that to him personally, politically, is probably a little lower than it would be if President Trump\u2019s approval ratings were extremely high right now,\u201d Erasmus Kersting, an economics professor at Villanova University, said on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Read more Visa Issues Resolved for Mother of World Cup\u2019s Breakout Star<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawmakers on Tuesday anticipated the Fed\u2019s decision to keep rates steady, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy guess is they\u2019re going to maintain the status quo. They\u2019re probably worried about inflation, the job market has held up pretty well. We\u2019re not growing a huge number of jobs, we\u2019re still creating jobs, but nobody\u2019s being laid off either,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see how he could decide to lower interest rates at this moment,\u201d Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) said.<\/p>\n

Many Republicans, however, said they still wanted the Fed to cut rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, those rates will come down,\u201d Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) said.<\/p>\n

Warsh kept his options open for future interest rate decisions and communications about those decisions at his Senate confirmation hearing in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tend to favor messier meetings than some, where people don\u2019t show up with rehearsed scripts, but we can have a good family fight,\u201d Warsh said. \u201cI\u2019m not one for predeciding what interest rate should be. I never said to the president where I think rates should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump did not immediately comment on the Fed\u2019s decision on Wednesday afternoon, but he touted positive economic indicators in a TruthSocial post on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Numbers in all categories for the United States Economy with more people working today than have ever worked before,\u201d Trump wrote on TruthSocial<\/u><\/span> Wednesday. \u201cImportantly, recent Stock Market numbers are through the roof because of the settlement and, likewise, Oil Prices are tumbling down!\u201d<\/p>\n

The economy added over 150,000 jobs in each of the previous three months, and the stock market has continued to grow this year.<\/p>\n

The president said in an interview with NBC News<\/u><\/span> in February that then-nominee Warsh \u201cwould not have gotten the job\u201d if he did not want to lower interest rates. But in May, Trump told Warsh at his swearing-in ceremony that he wants the Fed to be independent and \u201cdo your own thing.\u201d<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s words were an apparent reversal from months of public pressure on the previous chair, Jerome Powell, to slash rates. Powell said Trump opened a criminal investigation into his handling of the Fed\u2019s multibillion-dollar building renovation as political pressure.<\/p>\n

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, closed the probe in April, after intense criticism from Republicans and a campaign by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) to block Warsh\u2019s confirmation process until the investigation was closed. The Fed\u2019s inspector general will investigate Powell instead.<\/p>\n

Powell remains on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until his term expires in 2028. He has said he will remain on the board until the investigation is \u201cwell and truly over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s decision to stay pushed out an ally of the president on the 12-person rate-setting committee. Fed Governor Stephen Miran \u2014 who took over the role in September after chairing the White House Council of Economic Advisers \u2014 resigned in May.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Derails FISA Plans and Cancels Clayton Confirmation Hearing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal Reserve is maintaining current interest rates, despite Trump\u2019s demands to lower them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nKevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Federal Reserve is maintaining current interest rates, despite Trump\u2019s demands to lower them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512\"},\"wordCount\":1031,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512\",\"name\":\"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1786,\"caption\":\"FILE - Kevin Warsh speaks to the media about his report on transparency at the Bank of England, in London, Dec., 11, 2014. (AP Photo\\\/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=512#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"The Federal Reserve is maintaining current interest rates, despite Trump\u2019s demands to lower them.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady","datePublished":"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512"},"wordCount":1031,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512","name":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-17T18:12:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d5e23b542c713b2470547b42443b3e84-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1786,"caption":"FILE - Kevin Warsh speaks to the media about his report on transparency at the Bank of England, in London, Dec., 11, 2014. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=512#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kevin Warsh\u2019s First Interest Rates Decision: Keep Things Steady"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}