Gallego Sounds Alarm on Fed Chair Warsh’s Plan to Scale Back Interest Rate Meeting Schedule

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) led six Senate Democrats in calling on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh to maintain the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) longstanding schedule of at least eight meetings per year. The letter was sent in response to the New York Times’ recent reporting that Warsh is considering reducing the frequency of the meetings. “Since 1981, the FOMC has held a minimum of eight regularly scheduled meetings per year. At these meetings, the Committee reviews economic and financial conditions, determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy, and assesses risks to its statutory goals of price stability and maximum employment,” wrote the senators. “This cadence has provided a predictable framework for the conduct of monetary policy for 45 years. Fewer rate-setting meetings would represent the largest scheduled cutback in the modern history of the Federal Reserve.” “The Federal Reserve’s job is to stay engaged with the economy in real time, not to check in less and hope for the best,” concluded the senators. “If the Federal Reserve continues down this increasingly opaque path, you will be putting the broader economy at risk.” In addition to Gallego, Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) signed onto the letter. Last year, Senator Gallego introduced the bipartisan Fed Forward Act to codify the eight-meeting-per-year schedule and other longstanding transparency and accountability practices at the Federal Reserve. Senator Gallego also pressed Fed Chair Warsh at his confirmation hearing on his commitment to holding FOMC meetings and press conferences. Click here to read the letter.