Michael McKee

It's interesting that he only dissented for 25 basis points this time instead of for 50.

Either he thinks they've gone far enough or he didn't need to do 50 to keep the president's favor.

For Chris Waller...

The initial reaction I've seen from just about everybody who has written about it is that he's trying to keep his place in line for a possible promotion to Fed chair, replacing Powell.

But I would imagine also that Waller, knowing him and knowing his reputation, will probably come out on Friday when the blackout lifts and give us some sort of statement on the economic reasons why he thinks a cut is important at this time.

It's a little bit different situation now because the unemployment rate has gone down.

Inflation is, according to the Fed's calculations, which Powell talked about, going to, for the core PCE, hit 3%.

So it's harder to make the case for a cut at the moment.

So it'll be interesting to see what Waller has to say.

The statement keeps the line about considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range, suggesting more rate cuts are possible.

There's no hint, however, of what would lead them to do that or when.

Bloomberg's Michael McKee tells us the meeting went pretty much as expected.

No change in rates and the Fed leaves open the option of cutting rates in the future.

Stephen Myron and Chris Waller dissent in favor of a rate cut.

Michelle Bowman does not.

Today's question for the Fed, will it be policy or politics?

The central bankers won't be changing the benchmark lending rate, and there's no new dot plot and no new economic forecasts.

For the markets, the issue is whether they get any kind of hints about when or if rates will be cut again.

But for Washington and Wall Street, the overriding question is what impact President Trump's threats might have had on the policy committee and whether they have convinced Jay Powell to stay on as governor when his term as Fed chair expires in May.

Will Powell repeat his angry response to being subpoenaed by the Justice Department or will he seek to de-escalate?