PANews reported on January 5 that according to the Federal Reserve's official website, in 2025, the Federal Reserve will have 2 'hawkish' voting members, 1 'dovish' voting member, and 1 neutral voting member. Austan D. Goolsbee, President of the Chicago Fed, Susan M. Collins, President of the Boston Fed, Alberto G. Musalem, President of the St. Louis Fed, and Jeffrey R. Schmid, President of the Kansas City Fed, will become the new rotating voting members, replacing the 4 rotating voting members of 2024: Thomas I. Barkin, President of the Richmond Fed, Raphael W. Bostic, President of the Atlanta Fed, Mary C. Daly, President of the San Francisco Fed, and Beth M. Hammack, President of the Cleveland Fed.
Bloomberg analysis suggests that by 2025, the stance of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voting members will be more dispersed, with fewer neutral positions, potentially leading to greater divergences. Barron's believes that rotating voting members may tilt the Federal Reserve's decisions in 2025 towards a 'hawkish' stance. Reuters analysis indicates that over time, Federal Reserve policymakers may find their differences resurfacing, especially if the cooling of the labor market outpaces inflation. The increase of hawkish voting members in the FOMC may heighten the risk of divergences, although this may not change policy outcomes. The Federal Reserve's official website shows that the Fed will hold a total of 8 meetings in 2025, in January, March, May, June, July, September, October, and December. The dot plot released by the Federal Reserve in December 2024 indicates that the Fed has lowered the number of anticipated rate cuts in the future, reducing the forecast for rate cuts in 2025 from 4 times, predicted in September, to 2 times, with the median interest rate forecast raised from 3.4% in September to 3.9%.