「Fed Oracle」: Powell's Penultimate FOMC to Highlight Deepening Fed Rifts

March 18: Fed Whisperer Nick Timiraos said in a post that uncertainty tied to the Iran conflict is expected to strengthen most Federal Reserve officials’ consensus to stand pat at this week’s policy meeting. With Jerome Powell set to step down as Fed chair, any dissenting views will be particularly noteworthy. The article also noted deepening internal divisions at the Fed: Near-unanimous decisions are no longer the norm, and dissenting voices—especially among Trump-appointed Fed governors—are on the rise. Over the past year, all three Trump-appointed governors have dissented from the majority, with two doing so at the Fed’s last meeting. This week, all three may vote against the majority and support a rate cut. Even if they don’t align this time, the prospect of repeated rifts signals a shift whose impact could transcend any single vote. The key isn’t the vote margin but that all three governors were appointed by a president openly advocating for lower rates—and there has been no instance of three Fed governors openly dissenting at a policy meeting since 1988.