WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday suggested without evidence that the Federal Reserve’s widely followed economic forecasts are motivated by politics, as the Trump administration steps up pressure on the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates.
“The Fed publishes something called a summary of economic projections, and it’s pretty politically biased,” Bessent said, summarizing the projections as forecasts for one to two quarter-point interest-rate cuts this year. President Donald Trump has demanded the Fed deliver an immediate 300 basis-point rate cut.
The Fed publishes interest-rate forecasts from each of its 19 policymakers each quarter and does not identify which policymaker made which forecast. In June, eight projected two quarter-point interest-rate cuts this year, seven projected none, two saw one interest rate cut and two saw three.
Two of the Fed Board’s Trump appointees – Governor Christopher Waller and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman — have each articulated economic reasons for supporting a rate cut this month. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, also a Trump appointee, has not signaled such support.
Fed policymakers universally reject the idea that politics have any role in their monetary policy decisions, and say that to suggest they do undermines the central bank’s credibility and its ability to do its job fighting inflation and promoting maximum employment.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Writing by Jasper Ward; Editing by Diane Craft)
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