Fed expected to keep rates unchanged as Chair Powell pivots back to economics

After two weeks of intense political and legal scrutiny, the Federal Reserve will seek to make this week’s meeting about interest rates as straightforward and uneventful as possible, though President Donald Trump probably still won’t like the result. The central bank’s interest rate-setting committee is almost certain to keep its key short-term rate unchanged at about 3.6%, after three straight quarter-point cuts last year. This week’s meeting will be overshadowed by the bombshell revelation earlier this month that the Justice Department has subpoenaed the Fed as part of a criminal investigation. It’s the first time a sitting Fed chair has been investigated, and prompted an unusually public rebuke from Powell.