Warsh under pressure as Fed considers rate hike

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Today's Top Stories - September 15, 2026

Today's Top Stories - September 15, 2026

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh finds himself in a tricky position as the central bank commences its September meeting, as rising expectations of an interest rate hike clash with President Trump’s demands for cuts. 

Warsh gave himself wiggle room for a rate hike in late August, saying the central bank had “work to do” if underlying inflation was not moving toward its 2 percent target. 

But Trump, who has long kept up the drumbeat for rate cuts, appears increasingly impatient for his Fed pick to lower rates. 

“The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart — BE PATRIOTS for a change,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month, after strong jobs numbers came in for August.  

The president also warned that if the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) does not lower rates, he would cut off trade with countries the U.S. has a deficit with. 

Inflation has long remained above the Fed’s target rate of 2 percent. Annual inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), was unchanged in August at 3.4 percent, according to data released Friday. 

Roughly 85 percent of economists Reuters surveyed after the inflation report predicted a quarter-point rate hike, an increase from the roughly 70 percent of economists who said so before the latest CPI release. 

Alongside the better-than-anticipated jobs report last month, investors widely expect the central bank to hike rates Wednesday. Traders were pricing in a nearly 93 percent chance of a quarter-point increase on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. 

“A September Fed rate hike is almost locked in now,” Heather Long, chief........

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