Fed meeting live updates: Powell to stay on board – Trump’s legal attacks have ‘left me no choice’
This is CNBC’s live blog covering the Federal Open Market Committee meeting and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference.
Federal Reserve policymakers made their latest decision on interest rates, opting to keep interest rates at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. It’s likely the last call under Jerome Powell’s leadership. The decision came with some fireworks among Fed officials, with four dissenting votes — a first since 1992.
At his press conference, Powell said that after his chairmanship concludes on May 15, he will remain on the Fed board, acting as a central bank governor. Powell said that he will stay on the Fed because of the legal actions taken against him.
“I had long planned to be retiring,” Powell 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.”
It also is a big day for Powell’s anticipated successor. Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Fed chair was advanced from the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday morning. The vote fell along party lines, but it tees up President Donald Trump’s pick for a final confirmation vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.
