Kevin Warsh just held his first FOMC meeting as Federal Reserve Chair, and he used it to send an unmistakable message: inflation control comes first, your feelings come second.
The Fed held the federal funds rate steady at 3.50%-3.75% during the June 16-17 meeting. That alone wasn’t the surprise. The surprise was what the policy statement didn’t say. There was zero forward guidance on potential easing, a deliberate omission that caught markets off guard and signaled a clean break from the dovish trajectory many traders had been pricing in.
A new sheriff with an old playbook
Warsh was sworn in as Fed Chair on May 22, succeeding Jerome Powell. His appointment by President Trump had initially fueled expectations of a more accommodative posture, perhaps even rate cuts to juice economic growth. Instead, Warsh leaned into price stability and data dependence, two phrases that, in Fed-speak, translate roughly to “we’re not cutting anything anytime soon.”
Warsh previously served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, where he built a reputation as one of the more hawkish voices on the board.
