WASHINGTON (AP) — After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
Stephen Miran, a top White House economist who was confirmed by the Senate with unusual speed late Monday, was sworn in Tuesday as a member of the Fed’s board of governors. He will vote on the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to reduce its key rate by a quarter-point. Miran may dissent in favor of a larger cut.
Also attending the meeting is Fed governor Lisa Cook, whom the Trump administration has sought to fire in an unprecedented attempt to reshape the Fed, which historically is considered independent of day-to-day politics. An appeals court late Monday upheld an earlier ruling that the firing violated Cook’s due process rights. A lower court had earlier also ruled that President Donald Trump did not provide sufficient “cause” to remove Cook.
With both officials in place, the Fed’s two-day meeting could be unusually contentious for an institution that typically prefers to operate by consensus. It’s possible that as many as three of the seven governors could dissent from a decision to reduce rates by just a quarter-point in favor of a half-point. That would be the first time since 1988 that three governors have dissented. Economists also say that one of the five regional Fed bank presidents who also vote on rates could dissent in favor of keeping rates unchanged.
On Tuesday, the White House said it would appeal Cook’s case to the Supreme Court, though did not specify when.
“The President lawfully removed Lisa Cook for cause,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “The Administration will appeal this decision and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
U.S. stocks are falling sharply after President Donald Trump said tariffs he announced on Canada and Mexico will take effect at the end of the day.
U.S. sales fell in January thanks partly to freezing temperatures.
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week as employers continue to retain workers despite resurgent inflation and elevated interest rates. The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 7,000 to 213,000 for the week ending February 8, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts projected that 215,000 new applications would be filed. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of layoffs. The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of February 1 fell to 1.85 million, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week.
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
U.S. inflation got worse, according to the latest data.
If any husbands or boyfriends mess up Valentine’s Day this week, it’s not because of a shortage of flowers.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he did pretty much the same thing during
A group of investors led by Elon Musk says it is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit behind OpenAI.
U.S. businesses are stockpiling Prosecco as a hedge against possible tariffs.
