Trump Endorses Powell and Criticizes Fed, FOMC Sees Uncommon Policy Rift in New Chair's Early Tenure

July 30th: President Trump of the United States stated that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "wants to see lower rates," but is constrained by a "politicalized committee," and therefore has not been able to push for a rate cut.

This week, the FOMC meeting resulted in a decision to keep the interest rate unchanged with 9 votes in favor and 3 votes against. Three members publicly supported a 25 basis point hike. This is the first time since 2016 that three opposing votes with a consistent direction have appeared, and it is a rare large-scale internal policy disagreement in the early stages of a new Fed chair's tenure in nearly 50 years.

Powell reiterated after the meeting that if inflation remains high and the job market stays strong, a rate hike could still be a future policy option. He also mentioned that the Fed will not adjust its policy based on market expectations. The market currently widely views the September meeting as a key window to observe whether the Fed will resume rate hikes.