WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, keeping the target range at 3.75% to 4%, in a 10-to-2 vote that exposed a split inside the central bank less than a week before the midterm elections.
The two dissenters — Governor Lisa D. Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth M. Hammack — each wanted a quarter-point increase in the target range at this meeting, according to the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement.
The decision leaves the Fed’s policy-rate target unchanged — the range the committee set in September, when it raised rates to the current level. It does not guarantee that mortgage rates or other borrowing costs will stay the same.
A strong economy, elevated inflation
In its statement, the committee said economic activity is “expanding at a strong pace,” with resilient domestic spending, strong productivity growth and robust capital investment. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, it said, and the unemployment rate has changed little.
But inflation, the committee said plainly, “remains elevated.”
The statement offered no commitment about the committee’s next move. It said the accumulation of more information would help determine the policy stance needed “to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee’s 2 percent goal,” and closed the point with a pledge: “The Committee will deliver price stability.”
The committee also noted that uncertainty remains elevated, “owing, in part, to geopolitical developments,” and said it is continuing its policy of maintaining ample reserves in the banking system.
Why the dissents matter
Cook and Hammack wanted higher rates at this meeting; the majority preferred to hold. The statement did not commit the committee to its next move. Future decisions will depend on incoming information, including inflation and employment data.
Source: Federal Open Market Committee statement, Federal Reserve, October 28, 2026.
