Fed hawks and doves: what US central bankers are saying

ReutersApr 24, 2025 5:16 PM

April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. central bankers are expected to leave short-term borrowing costs unchanged at their May 6-7 meeting as they wait for more clarity on President Donald Trump 's trade policy and gauge whether it pushes inflation and unemployment higher as they expect, and if so how much, how fast, and for how long.

Here is a look at Fed officials' comments since the March meeting, sorting them under the labels "dove" and "hawk" as shorthand for their monetary policy leanings. A dove is more focused on risks to the labor market and may want to cut rates more quickly, while a hawk is more focused on the threat of inflation and may be more cautious about rate cuts.

The designations are based on comments and published remarks; for more, click on the photos in this graphic. For a breakdown of how Reuters' counts in each category have changed, please scroll to the bottom of this story.

Dove	Dovish	Centrist	Hawkish	Hawk
	Christopher Waller, Governor, permanent voter: "It's going to take some courage to stare down these tariff increases and prices with the belief that they are transitory... I would expect more rate cuts and sooner once I start seeing some serious deterioration in the labor market." April 24, 2025	Jerome Powell, Fed Chair, permanent voter: "For the time being, we are well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance.” April 16, 2025	Michelle Bowman, Governor, permanent voter: "As we're watching and waiting to see how the path for these policies continues to evolve, we'll understand what the economic effects are…It's unclear at this point.” April 10, 2025
	Lisa Cook, Governor, permanent voter: "For now, we can afford to be patient but attentive.” April 3, 2025	John Williams, New York Fed President, permanent voter: "We need to make sure that any one-time changes in prices don't pass through into more persistent higher inflation.” April 17, 2025	Jeffrey Schmid, Kansas City Fed President, 2025 voter: "We've got to be a little patient to see how some of these things play out.” April 16, 2025
	Austan Goolsbee, Chicago Fed President, 2025 voter: "We don't know what the impact on the supply chain is going to be so I think we want to be a little more of a steady hand and try to figure out the through line before we're jumping to action.” April 21, 2025	Philip Jefferson, Vice Chair, permanent voter: "We're in a situation where it's going to be important to take our time and think carefully about their (the Trump administration’s policies) impact.” April 3, 2025	Alberto Musalem, St. Louis Fed President, 2025 voter: "I would be wary of assuming the impact of high tariffs on inflation would be only brief or limited." April 11, 2025
		Michael Barr, Governor, permanent voter: No public comments on monetary policy since May 2024.	Beth Hammack, Cleveland Fed President, 2026 voter: "This is not a good time to be pre-emptive.” April 23, 2025
		Adriana Kugler, Governor, permanent voter: “I will support maintaining the current policy rate for as long as these upside risks to inflation continue, while economic activity and employment remain stable.” April 22, 2025	Lorie Logan, Dallas Fed President, 2026 voter: "It will be important to keep any tariff-related price increases from fostering more persistent inflation.” April 10, 2025
		Susan Collins, Boston Fed President, 2025 voter: "Maintaining the current monetary policy stance seems appropriate for the time being.” April 10, 2025"	Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Fed President, 2026 voter: "It's too soon to judge what's going to happen to the path of interest rates." April 22, 2025
		Patrick Harker, Philadelphia Fed President, 2026 voter: "What we have that's been built up over time is an incredibly precious resource at the Fed, which is our credibility, what we do, what we say, we don't just wing it,.” April 22, 2025	Thomas Barkin, Richmond Fed President, 2027 voter: "To me that'll be a signal, when you start talking to businesses who say 'boy I mean traffic just dried up' -- you haven't heard that yet but we'll see.” April 9, 2025
		Raphael Bostic, Atlanta Fed President, 2027 voter: "Moving too boldly with our policy in any direction wouldn't be prudent at the moment.” April 14, 2025
		Mary Daly, San Francisco Fed President, 2027 voter: "Ultimately, we made a single promise to the American people - I think you all remember what it was - we are going to restore price stability. That is the critical foundation of all other things we do.” April 18, 2025

Notes: The current policy rate target range is 4.25%-4.50%. In March Fed policymakers projected half a percentage point of rate cuts this year, but indicated higher-than-usual uncertainty around their forecasts.

The seven Fed governors, including the Fed chief and vice chair, have permanent votes at the Federal Open Market Committee meetings, which are held eight times a year. All 12 regional Fed presidents discuss and debate monetary policy at the meetings, but only five cast votes, including the New York Fed president and four others who vote for one year at a time on a rotating schedule.

Reuters over time has shifted policymaker designations based on fresh comments and developing circumstances. Below is a Reuters count of policymakers in each category, heading into recent Fed meetings.

FOMC Date	Dove	Dovish	Centrist	Hawkish	Hawk
Jan. and Mar '25	0	3	9	7	0
Dec. '24	0	2	10	7	0
Nov. '24	0	0	13	5	0
Sept '24	0	1	12	5	0
May through July '24	0	1	10	6	1
March '24	0	1	11	5	1
Jan '24	0	2	9	4	1
Dec '23	0	2	9	4	1
Oct/Nov '23	0	2	7	5	2
Sept '23	0	4	3	6	3
June '23	0	3	3	8	3
March '23	0	2	3	10	2
Dec '22	0	4	1	12	2

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