Fed meeting today live updates: Powell, Kevin Warsh in focus

Powell warned that the Fed’s independence is “at risk” amid a period of “legal assaults.”

“The institution is being battered over these things,” Powell said.

“We’re having to resort to the courts,” the Fed chief added. “We’ve been successful so far. But that’s not over.”

Powell said Fed independence matters not to protect Fed employees. Instead, he said it’s to ensure the central bank makes decisions based on analysis rather than political outcomes.

— Alex Harring

After announcing he’ll be staying on the Fed board, Powell called President Donald Trump’s criticism of him “unprecedented” and the attacks on the central bank “illegal.”

He doesn’t plan on leaving until the investigation into the renovation of the central bank headquarters is truly over with “transparency and finality.”

“It is so important for our economy, for the people that we serve, that they can depend, over time, on a central bank that operates that way, free of political influence,” he said.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had subpoenaed Powell but a court threw out the effort, which Pirro has vowed to appeal. Pirro in recent days referred the investigation to the Fed’s inspector general, removing the criminal element and helping clear a political roadblock that had threatened to stall Warsh’s confirmation.

However, Pirro has said she would reopen the matter if there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Because of that, Powell said he has “no choice but to stay.”

— Jeff Cox, Michelle Fox

When asked if he was confident that Trump’s Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh will stand up to political pressure from the president, Powell said that he believed so.

“So he testified very strongly to that effect in his hearing, and I’ll take him at his word,” Powell said.

— Lisa Kailai Han

The Fed may have held rates steady on Wednesday, but that hasn’t stopped some banks from dropping the annual percentage yields on their high-yield savings accounts.

Capital One Financial, Synchrony Financial and Marcus by Goldman Sachs are among those that recently did so, BTIG pointed out in a note Friday. Capital One now pays 3.10%, Synchrony is at 3.40% and Marcus by Goldman has a 3.5% APY. The moves followed a reduction by Ally Financial the week prior.

Analyst Vincent Caintic said he had not been anticipating any savings rate cuts since the Fed’s hold was widely expected.

“Following Ally’s cut last week, we had thought that perhaps this was a signal of modest asset growth,” he wrote. “However, bank earnings so far this 1Q26 season have pointed to still robust spending and lending among US consumers, and therefore no letup in growth expectations.”

Yet there are a few banks that pay 4% for high-yield savings and certificates of deposit. To see the list of the latest APYs, read the full Pro story here.

— Michelle Fox

Fed Chair Powell said while he plans to stay on as a Fed governor after his term as chief of the central bank ends, he will keep a low profile.

“That’s just something I would never do, the shadow chair thing,” he said, in response to a question from a reporter. “I’m going back to being a governor. I respect the role of chair… I have real sympathy for how hard it is to get that group to consensus. And I always felt like, I don’t want to add to that unnecessarily.”

He said he wants to support the chair, if possible, as a constructive participant to help get the committee to consensus.

— Davis Giangiulio

Chair Powell said he is staying on the Fed because of the legal actions taken against him and will leave when he thinks “it’s appropriate to do so.”

“I had long planned to be retiring,” he said. “The things that have happened really in the last three months have, I think, left me no choice but to stay until I see them through at least that long.”

By staying on, Powell for the moment is denying President Donald Trump a majority on the Board of Governors.

Trump’s other appointees on the seven-member board include Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, along with Stephen Miran, whose term has expired but has continued to serve until a new member is confirmed.

— Michelle Fox

Powell said he congratulated and had a “nice chat” with Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Fed Chair, at a dinner in January.

“This is, and will be, a very normal, standard kind of a transition process,” Powell said.

Powell said he has not seen Warsh since the dinner.

— Alex Harring

In his final remarks at the head of the central bank, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell conveyed his regards to Kevin Warsh as he moves forward with his nomination, and expressed his faith in the core tenets of the Fed.

“This is my last press conference as chair, and I will close with a few thoughts,” he told reporters in the post-meeting presser. “First, I want to congratulate Kevin Warsh on his advancement out of the Senate Banking Committee this morning. This is an important step forward, and I wish him well as that process continues.”

“The Federal Reserve exists for one fundamental purpose, to foster the economic conditions in which American families and businesses can thrive, stable prices, a strong job market and a financial system they can depend on,” Powell continued. “Every decision we make, whether about interest rates or regulatory and supervisory matters or other issues, is made in service of that purpose.”

— Sarah Min

Powell said he would continue acting as a Fed governor after his chairmanship concludes.

“I’ve said that I will not leave the board until this investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality, and I stand by that,” Powell said. “I’m encouraged by recent developments, and I’m watching the remaining steps in this process carefully.”

After his chair terms ends in May, Powell said he “will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined.”

— Alex Harring

Powell said that the actions of the Trump administration are undermining the Federal Reserve, as he explained what went into his thinking to stay on as a Fed governor after his term as chair ends.

“These legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113-year history, and there are ongoing threats of additional such actions,” he said. “I worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk the thing that really matters to the public, which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political factors.”

He added that it’s critical to maintain the Fed’s independent role, a character of central banks that he says distinguishes successful countries from unsuccessful ones.

— Davis Giangiulio

Jeff Kilburg in an appearance on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” said that three dissenters for the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged are sending a warning to Trump nominee of Kevin Warsh.

“This is a new quarterback hitting the portal,” the founder and CEO of KKM Financial said, referring to Warsh. “This was the rest of the players letting him know, we’re not going to let you lead us here.”

Three of the four dissenters did not vote with the rest of the FOMC not because they disagreed to keep rates unchanged, but because they believed the easing bias from the statement should have been removed, signaling they’re not keen on cutting rates.

David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, made a similar point. “I think this is a renewed declaration of independence,” he said. “This is a shot across the bow at Kevin Warsh.”

— Davis Giangiulio

The Fed meeting was clearly about the risk that the Iran war has brought to both sides of the central bank’s mandate, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist for B. Riley Wealth.

“One gets the sense that there will be several meetings at least before we see any rate changes by the FOMC, agnostic to who the Chair of the Fed is,” he said. “The real news will come during the press conference.”

— Michelle Fox

Four Fed policymakers dissented with their peers on the central bank’s latest decision to keep rates steady, but the officials had different reasons driving their call.

Three of the “no” votes came from regional presidents Beth Hammack of Cleveland, Minneapolis’ Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan of Dallas.

While the trio agreed with the Fed’s move to maintain rates at the target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, they said they “did not support the inclusion of an easing bias in the statement at this time.”

The three Fed officials said that the following sentence was an issue for them: “In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.” All three Fed officials, along with some of their peers, have previously flagged their concerns about sticky inflation.

Fed Governor Stephen Miran was the fourth dissenter, calling for a quarter percentage point cut.

—Jeff Cox, Darla Mercado

The Federal Reserve stood pat on its key interest rate, keeping it at a target rate range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

The meeting, anticipated to be the last with Jerome Powell as Fed Chair, was dramatic, however. Four members of the Federal Open Market Committee had dissenting votes, resulting in an 8-4 decision to keep rates steady.

Read more from CNBC’s Jeff Cox on the Fed’s dramatic split decision here.

—Darla Mercado

The major averages were modestly lower heading into the Fed’s interest rate decision.

As of 1:54 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were off 0.2%, while the Dow Industrials were down 300 points, or 0.6%.

The 10-year Treasury yield traded near its session high of 4.414%, while the 2-year note yield touched a session high of 3.918%. The U.S. dollar index also traded close to its session high of 98.913, while gold futures for June delivery were near the session low of $4,522.2.

—Gina Francolla, Darla Mercado

Oil prices have surged about 7% in trading Wednesday afternoon at 12:40 p.m. ET as traders react to an Axios report that President Donald Trump plans to maintain the U.S. naval blockade against Iran until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal. The pop in prices has pushed the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, above $106 a barrel, while the international benchmark, is above $119.

The higher energy prices that have followed the Middle East conflict have complicated the inflation picture for the Federal Reserve. Although oil price spikes are often ignored by policymakers as a temporary situation, the war between the Iran and U.S. could hamper the shipment of goods through the Strait of Hormuz for an extended period, especially if the two countries remain at a stalemate.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

For Americans now struggling to keep up with higher gas prices and overall affordability challenges, the central bank’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged does little to ease budgetary pressures.

Short-term rates, like credit cards, closely track the federal funds rate so those will likely stay elevated. Auto loan rates are tied to several factors, including the Fed’s benchmark. Longer-term rates, such as home loans, are more influenced by inflation and other economic factors. But as a result of geopolitical uncertainty, mortgages are also staying higher.

— Jessica Dickler

As all eyes are on what Powell might say at his potentially last meeting regarding his future as a Fed governor, bettors on Kalshi think he will stay on a little bit after his term as Fed chair ends.

Bettors place a 30% chance Powell steps down as a member of the Fed Board of Governors by June. However, bettors are more confident that he does that by August or the end of the year, with 66% and 81% odds, respectively.

If Powell doesn’t resign until August, he would stay on for two more meetings, the one in June and another in late July. Powell’s term as a Governor lasts until 2028. 

On prediction markets platform Polymarket, bettors see Powell stepping aside imminently. They give it an 87% chance he steps down between May 15 and May 22. 

Read more here.

— Davis Giangiulio

Kevin Warsh now has a clear path to replace Powell as the next Fed chair. The Senate Banking Committee advanced his nomination Wednesday, but the full Senate vote likely won’t happen for several days.

In the latest CNBC Fed Survey, respondents expressed some doubt about Warsh’s ability to maintain his independence, CNBC’s Steve Liesman reported earlier this week.

Just 50% of respondents believe Warsh will conduct monetary policy mostly or very independently, compared with 46% who say he will be only somewhat or not at all independent.

It’s a high level of concern, though confidence in his independence is 13-points higher than last month. That suggests Warsh might have convinced a few observers in his Senate confirmation last week.

The survey polled 26 economists, strategists and analysts on Thursday and Friday.

—Christina Cheddar Berk, Steve Liesman

Just hours before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were seeing little movement.

The S&P 500 was trading around the flatline, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%, as of 10:58 a.m. ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, lost 247 points, or 0.5%.

— Sean Conlon

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, in a party-line vote, advanced Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the next Federal Reserve chair.

By a 13-11 count, the panel sent President Donald Trump’s pick to the Senate floor as the successor to Jerome Powell, whose term ends in mid-May.

“Kevin Warsh’s leadership is absolutely essential now at the Federal Reserve than ever before,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the committee chairman, said following the vote.

—Jeff Cox

The Supreme Court didn’t issue a ruling in the closely watched Trump v. Cook case on Wednesday. At issue is whether the president could remove Fed governor Lisa Cook from her position at the central bank.

Trump had attempted to fire Cook in August 2025, citing allegations of mortgage fraud for his decision. Cook has denied the allegations. The high court heard oral arguments in January on the case.

Many expect the outcome will be a statement on presidental powers and a measure of the central bank’s ability to remain independent.

—Christina Cheddar Berk

One lingering question is whether Jerome Powell will step down when his term as Fed chair ends. This has typically been the custom, but Powell could be motivated to remain as a governor to ensure that the central bank’s independence remains on solid ground.

Powell’s term as governor doesn’t expire until January 2028, and he could leave at any time before then.

U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro recently abandoned a criminal investigation of Powell in order to clear the way for confirmation of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee. Instead, Pirro said her office asked the Fed’s inspector general to investigate cost overruns in the multibillion-dollar renovation of the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.

Trump has been vocal like none of his predecessors when it comes to badgering the central bank, demanding lower interest rates while threatening to fire Powell and actively trying to remove Governor Lisa Cook.

If Powell leaves now, he will give Trump an opening to appoint another member to the Board of Governors. Counting Warsh, the president would have three appointees on the seven-member board, including Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman from his first term.

—Christina Cheddar Berk, Jeff Cox

Central bank policymakers are widely expected to keep their key interest rate on hold at their target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the conclusion of their April meeting. Markets are pricing in a 100% chance the Federal Open Market Committee will stay on hold, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Since it will likely be Fed Chair Powell final meeting, some suspect the news conference slated for 2:30 p.m. won’t be considered to be the strong signal about future policy as it usually is.

—Christina Cheddar Berk