The Federal Reserve will not vote on interest rates at its October 2027 meeting, setting that session aside for broader strategy discussions instead. The change, announced Thursday, is part of a wider effort by Chairman Kevin Warsh to reduce the central bank’s market footprint and rework how it communicates with investors.
The Federal Open Market Committee will hold its Oct. 26–27, 2027, session without a rate vote or a subsequent policy statement. Members will instead devote the meeting to broader monetary strategy and questions extending beyond near-term data.
A calendar with seven voting meetings
Warsh first raised the idea at his news conference after the FOMC met in October, without saying which meeting would be affected. Under the new calendar, 2027 will have seven voting meetings, down from eight in 2026, and the year’s final meeting moves to November from December.
The October date had been one of the committee’s eight regularly scheduled sessions, each normally followed by a rate decision and a statement. With the change, 2027 offers one fewer scheduled opportunity for a rate move than the 2026 calendar does.
Warsh said regular, timely reviews of economic information remained necessary, but argued that the committee also needed dedicated time to consider longer-term strategy and major policy questions. He wanted members with different views to have room for that discussion.
He has said the number of nonvoting meetings will rise to two in 2028, extending the approach beyond the single October session now scheduled for 2027.
A broader reworking of Fed communication
The schedule change follows other adjustments to how the Fed speaks publicly. Warsh has been critical of the central bank’s previous communications strategy, saying policymakers spent too much time offering guidance on policy moves that later constrained them when decisions had to be made. Under typical practice, the Fed met eight times a year, voted on rates and then held a news conference led by the chair.
Since Warsh took over, the post-meeting statement has been shortened dramatically, and the chair’s question-and-answer session with reporters has been cut to about half an hour from the customary 45 minutes or so.
Warsh presented the revised calendar in October as part of his effort to streamline communication. In his view, the schedule and agenda shape how the committee deliberates and the quality of its eventual decisions, making them substantive institutional choices.
The FOMC next meets Dec. 8-9, 2026. Its first meeting of 2027 is set for Jan. 26-27.