Trump says he regrets taking advice to hire Powell

According to Reuters, this came just hours before Powell and other Fed officials spoke publicly for the first time since holding interest rates steady this week. The Fed decided to keep rates between 4.25% and 4.5% for now. Behind the scenes, policymakers are split on what to do next. Some believe inflation is still too high. Others want to cut rates soon.

Christopher Waller, a Fed Governor, said Friday on CNBC that he believes inflation isn‘t a real threat right now and that the Fed should move forward with cuts as early as next month. “The data the last few months has been showing that trend inflation is looking pretty good,” Waller said. He also said rising tariffs will not create serious inflation. “Any tariff inflation… I don’t think is going to be that big and we should just look through it in terms of setting policy,” he added.

Waller said the Fed shouldn‘t sit around and wait for the labor market to get worse. He pointed to signs of stress, including high unemployment among recent college graduates. “I’m all in favor of saying maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting,” he said.

Mary Daly, who runs the San Francisco Fed, offered a more middle-ground view. She told CNBC that a fall rate cut might make sense, but not in July. “A rate cut in the fall would be more appropriate,” she said, unless the labor market weakens faster than expected. She also warned that tariffs could push up costs but said businesses might absorb the hit instead of passing it to buyers.

Daly warned against rushing into cuts without solid data. But she said the Fed also cant ignore how much the economy is cooling. “We cannot wait so long that we forget that the fundamentals of the economy are moving in a direction where an interest rate adjustment might be necessary,” Daly said.

The latest projections from the Fed show a near 50-50 split. Eight officials expect two rate cuts this year. Seven think there should be none. Those expecting cuts believe the September and December meetings could be the moments to act. The rest want to keep things where they are.