Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell has reiterated that rate decisions will be data-driven — by inflation, and employment.

Powell has said politics don't play a part in Fed rate decisions. He and his colleagues have held the key overnight borrowing rate in place since December, though markets largely expect a cut is on the way not at the Fed's July meeting, but in September.

The latest round of tariff threats from President Trump could spark fresh concerns about inflation, which might force the Federal Reserve to maintain its wait-and-see posture on interest-rate cuts, sa

U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh tariff announcements make it "messy" to interpret the state of the economy, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee said, adding that he is hearing a lot of anxiety from business contacts about coming inflation that is not yet obvious in the data.

The president hasn’t named a successor to Jerome H. Powell, but his insistence on someone who will lower interest rates has already raised doubts about their credibility.

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said Thursday that the central bank should consider cutting interest rates at its July meeting, even after a strong June jobs report.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, both appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House, have said they'd consider cutting the benchmark policy rate as soon as the central bank's July 29-30 meeting.

The U.S. central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady in June was unanimously supported, but officials were starting to splinter over the path forward.

New tariffs unveiled by President Trump have further muddied the inflation outlook, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said, making it more difficult for him to support the rate cuts that the president has pressed for.