Beth M. Hammack

Two of the 12 FOMC voters dissented.

Beth Hammack and Lisa Cook pushed to hike immediately.

In his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chairman Kevin Walsh said the FOMC is walking a tightrope between robust U.S. economic growth on one side and rising inflation and geopolitical uncertainty on the other.

Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace.

Okay.

Voting against the policy action would Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack.

No surprise here.

Lisa Cook.

If you look back at the full body of her academic work, she is as dovish a human being as has ever been created.

So for her to have dissented, don't get me wrong, she's been saying the right things, but she certainly hasn't been as outspoken as Beth Hammack or Lori Logan or Neel Kashkari.

I mean, that was where the betting odds were that we were gonna see three dissents from three Federal Reserve District Presidents.

And yet we just saw one.

from Beth Hammack and then Lisa Cook.

And, you know, if she's recently come under attack again on Truth Social by the president, again, saying, I'm not gonna let this case go away, even though I think there's a math challenge there because...

She did pay a higher interest rate for the second home, indicating that if she was trying to rip off the system, she was doing it very poorly.

The decision, which maintains the Fed's benchmark rate in a range between three and three quarters percent and four percent, was approved on a 10 to two vote.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of a quarter-point increase.

Now, in September, most officials on the Fed projected that they would raise rates at least once more this year at either this week's meeting or the one that concludes on December the 9th.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh at a news conference on Wednesday sidestepped questions about what would lead the Fed to raise rates again, He touted the recent strength of the economy, which he said had broadened beyond AI-related investment, and he suggested that officials would have a much better understanding of economic and financial market developments at their next meeting.

The vote was not unanimous, however, as there were two dissents.

Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, who both wanted a 25 basis points hike.

Whilst Hammack is an outspoken hawk and has dissented twice before this year, this was the first time that Cook, who is under investigation by a Trump-appointed committee for fraud, voted against the majority.

Nevertheless, there was only a knee-jerk reaction to the split vote as Warsh's press conference did little to bolster expectations that the Fed will tighten policy more than what is priced in by the markets.

Chairman Kevin Warsh is essentially buying time, waiting to see how these converging forces play out.

Though Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack dissented on that vote, arguing that they needed to hike rates right now.

Yeah.

They wanna hike because they are terrified of two major forces seeping into broader structural inflation.

As expected, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.75% to 4%, although the decision was less unanimous than anticipated.

Two policymakers, Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack, favored another 25 basis point hike.

The central bank also painted a relatively upbeat picture of the U.S. economy, highlighting resilient consumer spending, strong business investment, and stable unemployment.

Inflation, however, remains too high for the Fed's comfort, leaving the door open to further monetary tightening.

The vote wasn't unanimous.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack both wanted to raise rates by another quarter point.

Cook is also fighting President Trump's effort to remove her from the Fed.

And Warsh announced a change to how the Fed operates.

The vote wasn't unanimous.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack both wanted to raise rates by another quarter point.

Cook is also fighting President Trump's effort to remove her from the Fed.

And Warsh announced a change to how the Fed operates.