Fed dissenters explain ‘no’ votes, saying they disagreed with hinting next move would be a cut
Fed officials who voted against the post-meeting statement this week said they didn’t think it was appropriate to signal that the next interest rate move would be lower.
Precinct chairs Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Beth Hammack of Cleveland issued statements explaining their votes and offered similar justifications for the statement’s verbiage — but not for the decision to keep rates at their current positions.
Kashkari said the statement “contains some form of forward guidance on the likely direction of monetary policy.” “Given recent economic and geopolitical developments and the high level of uncertainty regarding the outlook, I do not believe such forward guidance is appropriate at this time.”
Instead, he said the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement on Wednesday should indicate that the next move could be a cut or an increase. This was the committee’s third consecutive pause, following three interruptions in the second half of 2025.
Similarly, Hammack said he disagreed with the decision to state that “bias around the future path of monetary policy has been eased.”
“Given the outlook, I think this clear easing trend is no longer appropriate,” he said. Hammack noted that inflation pressures “remain broad-based” as the Iran war and subsequent rise in oil prices pose a threat to the Fed’s 2% target.
The declaration was adopted by a vote of 8 to 4, the largest number of dissenters since 1992. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan joined Kashkari and Hammack in objecting to the statement language. Governor Stephen Miran again opposed in favor of a rate cut.
The specific statement was: “The Committee will carefully consider incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks when considering the scope and timing of additional adjustments to the federal funds rate target range.”
The phrase “additional adjustments” is the main issue. Fed watchers generally think the language implies that the next move will be in line with recent cuts.
Data released on Thursday shows that inflation rose in March. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose to 3.2%, the highest level since November 2023, according to the Commerce Department.
