Jerome Powell’s era of consensus at the Fed is over

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell leaves a press conference in Washington, DC, on October 29. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Washington —

Federal Reserve policymakers are split over whether they should continue cutting interest rates, ending a period of consensus that has defined Chair Jerome Powell’s leadership of the central bank.

The Fed’s latest decision to lower interest rates by a quarter point in late October was opposed by two policymakers: one official who preferred to hold rates steady, and another who wanted a larger rate cut instead. A pair of opposing dissents had not been seen since 2019. Earlier this year, more than one Fed governor cast a dissenting vote for the first time in more than three decades.

The growing divide among Fed officials has spilled out into publ