Miran urges half-point rate cut in lone Fed dissent

Newly-confirmed Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran dissented from the central bank’s decision to lower the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, choosing instead to call for a half-point cut.

Miran, who was confirmed by the Senate to the Fed Board of Governors on Monday, was the sole dissenter in the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement.

Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller, who had dissented at the Fed’s prior meeting in favor of a quarter-point move, were aligned with Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the others besides Miran this time.

“It’s interesting that Waller and Bowman both stuck with consensus – despite auditioning for the Fed Chair position – and the newest member, Miran, has leapfrogged them with an even more dovish 50 bps dissent,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. “It’s possible that they are trying to position themselves as more serious members of the Fed, who are interested in cutting rates 25 bps, but don’t feel the need for draconian cuts.”

Miran also wants the Fed to go much lower this year than the other Fed governors, who largely see only two more cuts in 2025.

The illustration below shows the so-called dots for this year for voting Fed members, with one forecast labeled for what is likely Stephen Miran’s vote. The dots are anonymous, so we are assuming Miran is the one rate forecast much lower than the rest of the group for this year. We’ve also added a dot for where President Donald Trump has said he wants the Fed rate. He has called for a rate lower by two to three percentage points.

The Fed’s dot plot further shows an unusually wide disagreement among FOMC participants on the number of rate cuts in 2026, with some members seeing as many as four cuts then.

Miran was selected by Trump back in August to fill the seat that was vacated by former Governor Adriana Kugler after she suddenly announced her resignation without stating a reason for doing so. He has said that he will take an unpaid leave of absence as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors rather than fully resign from the position.

Miran’s place on the board, which will last until Jan. 31, 2026 when Kugler’s term was due to end, has been viewed by critics as a threat from Trump to the Fed’s independence, as the president has nominated three of the seven members.

Trump also said in August that he had fired Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook. However, a federal appeals court ruled earlier this week that he cannot fire her. The White House has said in response that it is going to appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court.