Fed hawks and doves: What US central bankers are saying
By Ann Saphir
March 6 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to hold short-term borrowing costs steady at their March 17-18 meeting, as they did in January, even as they weigh what the Iran conflict, higher oil prices, still-high inflation and a weakening labor market mean for policy at subsequent meetings.
Here is a look at Fed officials' recent comments, 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.
A graphic is also available.
The designations are based on public comments and published remarks. To see 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: "If the labor market continues to go weak ... If we get a bad number ... the question is 'why are you just sitting on your hands?'" March 6, 2026
| Anna Paulson, Philadelphia Fed President, 2026 voter: No public remarks on monetary policy since January 14, 2026. | Jerome Powell, Fed Chair, permanent voter: "The upside risks to inflation and the downside risks to employment have diminished. But they still exist ... We think our policy is in a good place." January 28, 2026 | Lisa Cook, Governor, permanent voter: "We put a lot of easing into the pipeline at the end of last year and I think that given where the labor market is, where inflation is, this is the right time to sit back and wait to see what happens." February 4, 2026 | Beth Hammack, Cleveland Fed President, 2026 voter: "When I look at things broadly, to me it seems like there are two-sided risks to rates." March 6, 2026 |
Stephen Miran, Governor, permanent voter: "I'm hesitant to react to what's going on in oil until we know more, but if anything it biases me toward even more dovish policy." March 6, 2026 | Mary Daly, San Francisco Fed President, 2027 voter: "The hopes that the labor market was steadying -- maybe that was too much and we really have to keep our eye on the labor market; but we also have inflation printing above target and oil prices rising." March 6, 2026 | John Williams, New York Fed President, permanent voter: “If inflation follows the path I expect, further reductions in the federal funds rate will eventually be warranted to prevent monetary policy from inadvertently becoming more restrictive.” March 3, 2026. | Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Fed President, 2026 voter: “We need to see with this new shock, potentially a new shock hitting the global economy...how long is the effect, and how big is the effect?” March 3, 2026 | Lorie Logan, Dallas Fed President, 2026 voter: "I see risks on both sides of our mandate that we need to be attentive to." February 20, 2026 |
Michelle Bowman, Vice Chair for Supervision, permanent voter: "Since the January meeting, we’ve started to see some more information that is pointing a little bit more to signs of stabilizing in the labor market.” March 5, 2026 |
| Philip Jefferson, Vice Chair, permanent voter: "In this less dynamic labor market, the downside risks to employment remain, but my baseline is for the unemployment rate to hold approximately steady throughout this year." February 6, 2026
| Austan Goolsbee, Chicago Fed President, 2027 voter: "I have some confidence rates can come down several more times this year in 2026...I just don't want to front-load it too much before we actually have the evidence that the inflation is headed" back down to the Fed's 2% goal. February 26, 2026 | Jeffrey Schmid, Kansas City Fed President, 2028 voter: "I don’t think we have room to be complacent" on inflation. March 3, 2026 |
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| Michael Barr, Governor, permanent voter: No public comments on monetary policy since October 9, 2025. | Thomas Barkin, Richmond Fed President, 2027 voter: "With the PCE numbers that we're expecting next week, you've got a couple months of relatively high inflation. That certainly puts pause to any conclusion that we're done fighting this." March 5, 2026 |
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| Susan Collins, Boston Fed President, 2028 voter: "Based on my outlook I see a patient, deliberate approach as appropriate...I do not see an urgency for additional policy adjustments." March 6, 2026
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| Alberto Musalem, St. Louis Fed President, 2028 voter: “You could have a risk of the labor market to deteriorate further; it's not my base case, but I think it could happen…there is a possibility that inflation could stay higher than we would all like it to be for longer ... these two risks in my assessment are roughly balanced right now.” February 25, 2026 |
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Notes: The current policy rate target range is 3.50%-3.75%. The median of Fed policymaker projections in December was for one quarter-percentage-point cut by the end of 2026.
The Fed's seven governors, including the central bank chief and vice chairs, are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Each of them votes at every Federal Open Market Committee meeting, held eight times a year.
Miran, Waller and Bowman are Trump nominees. Barr, Jefferson and Cook - whom Trump is attempting to fire - were nominated by former President Joe Biden. Powell was initially nominated to the Fed's Board of Governors by former President Barack Obama, elevated to the top Fed job by Trump in his first term, and renominated to that position by Biden. Trump plans to nominate former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell when his chair term ends in mid-May.
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. Fed regional bank presidents are picked by the directors of their own regional banks, subject to approval by the Fed's board.
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 Fed meetings.
FOMC Date | Dove | Dovish | Centrist | Hawkish | Hawk |
March '26 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
Jan. '26 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
Dec. '25 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
Oct. '25 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 1 |
Sept. '25 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
July '25 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
Jan.-June '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 |
