Kevin Warsh testifies during his nomination hearing to be a member and chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Apr 21, 2026. (File photo: AP/Jose Luis Magana)
14 Jun 2026 10:04AM
(Updated: 14 Jun 2026 10:13AM)
WASHINGTON: US Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh will chair his first meeting of the central bank's rate-setting committee next week caught between a rock and a hard place.Inflation is at a three-year high but Warsh still faces unrelenting pressure from the White House to lower interest rates.The bank's 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will begin a two-day meeting on Tuesday (Jun 16) and is widely expected to hold rates steady as the effects of US President Donald Trump's war on Iran course through the world's largest economy.Warsh, who was picked by Trump, was sworn in last month and has an ambitious and wide-ranging reform agenda.
He has previously expressed support for lowering rates - in line with Trump's demands - but will likely face resistance from a divided committee.At the FOMC's last meeting in April, the Fed held rates steady at 3.50 to 3.75 per cent, but the decision saw four voices of dissent - the largest number since 1992.Analysts expect the FOMC to deliver a similar decision in June, though with debate expected on whether to change the Fed's guidance on what its next move could be - a rate hike or a cut."He was appointed as Trump's pick, because Trump probably was influencing him to cut rates," Dan North, senior economist at Allianz Trade, told AFP."I don't see him being able to do that now, especially with inflation data and job growth data, and what the people on the FOMC said last time around with their dissents."
