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IrelandWarsh rejects a softer inflation target as Fed holds rates
CNBC's full press conference draws an unusually large audience as the Fed chair faces questions about inflation, politics and the case for another increase.
CNBC Television
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 201,568 views a day, 15 times a normal first day on this channel (13,446).
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks after Fed holds interest rates steady — 10/28/2026
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 1:21The Fed holds its benchmark interest-rate range at 3.75% to 4%.
- 6:20Warsh announces dedicated strategy meetings without rate votes, beginning in autumn 2027.
- 20:26Asked whether holding rates implies a softer inflation target, Warsh reaffirms the 2% goal.
- 23:58Warsh says interest rates still affect broad business investment despite the AI spending boom.
- 26:36Asked about the midterm elections, Warsh says politics played no role in the decision.
- 27:30Warsh rejects forward guidance about future rate moves except in a crisis or other exceptional circumstances.
Why leave interest rates alone when inflation is still too high? New York Times reporter Colby Smith puts that question to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, bringing the tension behind Wednesday's decision straight to the podium.
The Fed kept its benchmark rate between 3.75% and 4%, following September's increase. Warsh insists that standing still does not mean accepting higher inflation. Later, pressed on whether the decision signals a softer target, he says: "What I can do is tell you there's no soft inflation target. There's no implicit inflation target."
CNBC Television's full press conference passed 100,000 views in its first eight hours, running well ahead of the channel's usual start for a regular video. The roughly half-hour question session gives viewers more than the rate announcement: reporters press Warsh on oil prices, AI investment and whether the approaching midterm elections influenced the decision.
"Politics played no role in the decision," he says. On AI, his answer is that borrowing costs still reach broadly through business investment, even amid a technology boom.
Anyone looking for a firm promise about the next rate move gets a different message. "I don't believe in forward guidance absent exigent circumstances, absent a crisis," Warsh says.
There is also a change to how the Fed will conduct its discussions. Starting in autumn 2027, Warsh announces, the meeting schedule will include dedicated strategy sessions without interest-rate votes, separating some longer-term deliberations from the immediate decision on borrowing costs.
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- Channel
- CNBC Television
- Subscribers
- 3,410,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 4,524,910
- Channel views, pace per day
- 473,532 (on a normal day: 744,862)
- Video published
- October 28, 2026
- Video views so far
- 102,977 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 201,568
The numbers
The full press conference drew more than 100,000 views in eight hours, an unusually fast start for a regular CNBC Television upload.
💡 Test your knowledge
What does FOMC stand for?
The Federal Open Market Committee is the Fed's monetary-policy committee responsible for the rate decision discussed here.