Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2026. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
What we’re covering here
• The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday as expected, but two governors dissented, preferring a quarter-point cut.
• It’s the first time since July that the central bank has chosen to pause its rate-cutting cycle, having lowered rates three times last year as it monitored the economic effects of President Donald Trump’s aggressive policies.
• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opted to avoid questions about his extraordinary rebuke of the Trump administration earlier this month, when he announced he was the subject of a criminal probe that he categorized as a “pretext” to intimidate the central bank into cutting rates to the president’s liking.
