Warsh Raises Rethink on Fed's Policy Meeting Frequency, Timing

Warsh Raises Rethink on Fed's Policy Meeting Frequency, Timing

Enda Curran

Mon, August 3, 2026 at 12:36 AM GMT+3 3 min read

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(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has raised the possibility of changing the frequency of the US central bank's regular policy meetings, according to people familiar with the matter.

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One idea Warsh floated is for Fed policymakers to meet six times a year to decide on interest rates and other monetary policy issues and twice a year for discussion of a substantive economic topic, one of the people said. No decision has yet been made.

The Fed chief broached a rethink of the meeting schedule at last week's gathering of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, the people said.

The 12-member FOMC currently meets eight times a year in Washington to set interest rates, a practice it has followed since the early 1980s. A reduction in the number of policy meetings would mark a significant shift in the way the central bank operates.

The discussion last week also centered on whether the schedule of policy decisions can be better aligned to coincide with major economic data releases and other information, with an objective of improving overall decision making, one of the people said.

A Fed spokesperson declined to comment. The discussion was earlier reported by The New York Times.

The move to reconsider the meeting schedule highlights how Warsh, who took the helm in May after being nominated by President Donald Trump, is thinking about changing the Fed's approach to policymaking and data.

The new chairman has raised the possibility of fewer press conferences and significantly shortened the Fed's post-meeting policy statement. He also announced the creation of five task forces to consider possible changes in areas ranging from how the Fed communicates to how the central bank manages its balance sheet.

Meeting Schedule

The FOMC has already scheduled its meetings for the remainder of 2026 — with gatherings set for September, October and December — and for 2027. "Each meeting date is tentative until confirmed at the meeting immediately preceding it," according to the website, a disclaimer that predates Warsh's appointment as Fed chair.

Under the FOMC's rules of procedure, it meets at least four times a year in Washington, if not more.

"Meetings are held upon the call of the Chair of the Board or at the request of any three members of the Committee," according to the rules of procedure.

The Fed has also periodically held unscheduled meetings during times of economic and market turmoil, such as the beginning of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

The Fed's rate-setting committee includes 12 members: the seven officials on the Fed's Board of Governors in Washington, including Warsh; the New York Fed president, who serves as the FOMC vice chair; and four of the 12 presidents of the Fed's regional banks, who rotate turns as voting members each year.

Warsh has suggested changes to central bank meeting schedules before.

In 2014, he conducted a review of the Bank of England's transparency practices and procedures, known as the Warsh Review, that resulted in the UK central bank reducing its annual gatherings to eight from 12.

The European Central Bank in 2015 separately reduced its monetary policy meeting frequency to every six weeks, replacing the previous practice of doing so on the first working Thursday of each month.

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