The Fed will not vote on potential interest rate changes at its October 2027 meeting, part of Chairman Kevin Warsh’s broader efforts aimed at shrinking the central bank’s market footprint.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, will hold an extraordinary meeting Oct. 26-27 for “discussion of a wide range of strategic monetary policy issues,” according to an announcement Thursday.
Warsh announced the move at a press conference after the October FOMC meeting, but did not say which meetings would be affected.
Seven voting sessions will be held in 2027, with the October session set aside as additional time for policy consideration without formal votes or post-meeting statements. According to the new calendar, the last meeting of the year will be held in November. Previously it was set to December.
“Now, what’s the reason behind this change? For me, it’s very simple,” the chairman said when explaining his rationale. “Getting policy right requires regular, short-term assessments of developments at information-rich intervals.”
“But as an intellectually diverse group, it’s equally important that we carve out time and space for strategic deliberation: to rethink the big questions, to look at the longer horizon, and to focus, as I say, to the left of the decimal point.”
Warsh criticized the Fed’s previous communications strategy, saying policymakers spent too much time providing guidance on policy moves, handcuffing them when making decisions.
Under normal practice, the Fed meets eight times a year, followed by a vote on interest rates, followed by the chairman’s press conference.
Post-meeting statements have been significantly shortened since Warsh took office. Additionally, the Q&A period for reporters was shortened from the usual 45 minutes to around 30 minutes.
Warsh said in October that the meeting schedule was another step in a plan to streamline communications. Last month, he predicted that the number of non-voting meetings would rise to two by 2028.
“We believe that meeting scheduling and agenda setting are more than just administrative details,” he said. “This is an institutional choice that will affect the nature and quality of our deliberations and ultimately the wisdom of our decisions. It is another change that will put monetary policy management on the right track.”
The next FOMC meeting will be held on December 8-9. The first meeting of 2027 will be held on January 26th and 27th.
Correction: There will be no vote on interest rates at the October 2027 Fed meeting. A previous version of the heading incorrectly listed the year.
