The Federal Reserve won't vote on a potential interest-rate change at its October 2027 meeting, a departure that is part of a broader initiative from Chairman Kevin Warsh aimed at reducing the central bank's market footprint.
According to an announcement Thursday, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will set aside its Oct. 26-27 session for "the discussion of broad monetary policy strategy issues."
Warsh announced the move at his news conference after the FOMC met in October, though he did not specify which meeting would be affected.
In 2027, there will be seven voting meetings, with the October session set up as extra time for policy deliberation without a formal vote or post-meeting statement. The new calendar shows that the final meeting of the year will now take place in November. It had previously been set for December.
"Now, what's the reasoning behind this change? To me, it's quite straightforward," the chairman said in explaining his rationale. "Getting policy right involves assessing near-term developments at timely, regular, and information-rich intervals."
"But it's equally important we reserve time and space, as an intellectually diverse group, for strategic deliberations—for thinking anew about big questions, looking out over longer time horizons, focusing, as I say, on the left side of the decimal point," he said.
Warsh has been critical of the Fed's prior communications strategy, saying policymakers spent too much time providing guidance on policy moves that handcuffed them when it came time to make decisions.
Under typical practice, the Fed meets eight times a year, following with a vote on interest rates and then a news conference from the chair.
Since Warsh took over, the post-meeting statement has been shortened dramatically. Moreover, the press question-and-answer sessions have been cut to around half an hour from their customary 45 minutes or so.
Warsh said in October that the meeting schedule is another step in his plan to streamline communication. He indicated last month that the number of nonvoting meetings would increase to two in 2028.
"I believe the setting of the meeting schedule and agenda is more than some administrative detail," he said. "It's an institutional choice, affecting the nature and the quality of our deliberations and, ultimately, the wisdom of our decisions. It's yet another change to get the conduct of monetary policy on the right track."
The FOMC next meets Dec. 8-9. Its first meeting in 2027 will happen Jan. 26-27.
Correction: The Fed's October 2027 meeting will not see a vote on interest rates. The headline in an earlier version misstated the year.
