Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh delivers a speech on the day of his swearing-in ceremony, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 22, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s first meeting at the helm Wednesday could be more significant for what doesn’t happen than what does.
The central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee is a virtual lock to stay on hold, as it has all year, with its benchmark overnight borrowing rate targeted in a range between 3.5%-3.75%.
Beyond that rather routine vote is where the fun part starts.
There will be layers of intrigue as Warsh looks to put his imprint on the central bank. Along with the rate decision, the FOMC will release its “dot plot” projections for interest rates as well as the collective outlook for inflation, unemployment and gross domestic product growth.
And then there’s the post-meeting news conference, where Warsh will explain the committee’s decision then no doubt face a bevy of questions about his future intentions at the Fed.
“So I actually expect the meeting to be pretty quiet in terms of the actual decision. The interesting part will come at the press conference with more kind of forward-looking discussion about communication, maybe about the balance sheet and things like that,” said Bill English, former head of monetary affairs at the Fed and a colleague of Warsh’s during the chairman’s first stint at the central bank.
“I think that’s where Warsh will be trying to say, ‘I have plans or things I want to do, but they’re not things that can be done right away,'” he added.
Among the other issues to watch will be any indications Warsh gives about whether he will continue to have news conferences after every meeting, what his broader communications strategy will be, and what his intentions are to shrink the Fed’s bond holdings on its $6.8 trillion balance sheet.
Fed policymakers will announce their latest decision on interest rates at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Warsh’s news conference starts at 2:30 p.m.
Follow CNBC’s live coverage of the day’s events here.
