U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks as he holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., U.S., Dec. 10, 2025. Kevin Lamarque | ReutersWASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve on Tuesday released minutes from its highly divisive meeting earlier this month, which concluded with a vote to lower interest rates again that appeared to be an even closer call than the final vote indicated.Officials expressed a variety of opinions during the Dec. 9-10 meeting, according to the summary provided a day ahead of its customary release due to the New Year’s holiday.Ultimately, the Federal Open Market Committee approved a quarter percentage point cut by a 9-3 vote, the most dissents since 2019 as officials debated over the need to support the labor market against concerns about inflation. The move lowered the key funds rate to a range of 3.5%-3.75%.”Most participants judged that further downward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate if inflation declined over time as expected,” the document said.With that, though, came misgivings over how aggressive the FOMC should be in the future.”With respect to the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, some participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for some time after a lowering of the range at this meeting,” the minutes said.Officials expressed confidence that the economy would continue to expand around a “moderate” pace, while they saw downside risks to employment and upside risks to inflation. The extent of the two dynamics divided FOMC policymakers, with indications that the vote could have gone either way despite t …
