Federal Reserve Watch for Dec. 12: Goolsbee, Schmid Urge Patience on Rate Cuts Until More Data Seen

02:18 PM EST, 12/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee (next votes in 2027) said that he dissented at the December meeting in favor of no rate change because he was uncomfortable front loading too many rate cuts and urged patience to assure that inflation is back on a path to 2%.

Goolsbee said that the unemployment rate has been fairly stable and that there is low risk that the job market will fall apart overnight, while at the same time there were disappointing inflation data released before the government shutdown cut off the flow of government data.

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid (next votes in 2028) said in a statement explaining his dissent at the December FOMC meeting that he still sees inflation as elevated along with signs that the economy is not being restrained by the current level of interest rates.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack (voter in 2026) said that inflation is still too high and that she would like to see a slightly more restrictive stance of policy to assure that the pace of price gains is slowing, according to Reuters.

Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson (voter in 2026) said that her concerns about a weakening job market are greater than her fear of upside inflation risks, adding that she sees the current stance of monetary policy as "somewhat restrictive."

Recent comments of note:

(Dec. 10) Fed Chairman Jerome Powell (voter) said that after rate cuts at the last three FOMC meetings, the policy rate is in the range of neutral, giving the FOMC time to observe how the US economy evolves as more government is released. He repeated that there is "no risk-free path for policy as we navigate this tension between our employment and inflation goals."

(Dec. 10) The FOMC lowered the federal funds rate target by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50% to 3.75%, with Fed Governor Stephen Miran again looking for a larger 50-basis point reduction and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid wanting to hold rates steady. The updated SEP still sees a median of only one rate cut in 2026, likely due to higher expectations for GDP, one more rate cut in 2027, and no rate cuts in 2028, all the same as in the previous SEP. The FOMC said that reserve balances are ample but will purchase shorter-term Treasury securities as needed to maintain the supply.

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