That could be a tough argument to sell to the rest of the Fed committee right now.

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.8% in April, up from 3.3% in March. Energy prices accounted for 40% of the increase, while shelter and food also surged. Stripping out energy and food prices, inflation on a “core” basis clocked in at 2.8%, up from 2.6%. Services inflation excluding energy was up 3.3%, while goods prices, which have been pushed higher by tariffs, rose 1.1%.

Some Fed officials, including Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee, are concerned that prices for services — things like haircuts and lawnmowing — have remained sticky, and those prices typically aren’t influenced by higher oil prices or tariffs.

Boston Fed president Susan Collins said in a speech Wednesday that she thinks the Fed will need to maintain its “current, slightly restrictive monetary policy stance for some time.”

“More than five years of above-target inflation has reduced my patience for ‘looking through’ another supply shock,” Collins said.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures index for April is expected to nudge up to 3.3%, although the three-month annualized rate would drop back to 3.9%, from 4.4%. The Fed’s inflation target is 2%.

Read more: How jobs, inflation, and the Fed are all related

‘No majority for renewed consideration of cuts’

Even before the latest hot inflation reports, some Fed officials were becoming uneasy about inflation and questioning whether they should look through the oil price shock, expecting prices would come back down.

Fed governor Chris Waller, who had been touting rate cuts, cautioned last month about looking through a sequence of shocks, saying Fed officials need to be “more vigilant.”

“If the shocks hit one after another, they will keep inflation elevated for quite some time,” Waller said. “The standard ‘look-through’ can become problematic if businesses and households start to believe inflation is persistently high and it affects their price- and wage-setting behavior.”

Read more: How the Fed rate decision affects your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments

Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack has also questioned whether the string of “shocks” — the pandemic’s disruption of global supply chains, the Russia-Ukraine invasion, tariffs, and now an oil shock — is really each short-lived, or whether they are building on one another and creating an inflation mindset for consumers and businesses.

Three members of the Fed dissented at the interest rate-setting meeting last month over including language in their policy statement that signaled the next rate move would likely be a cut. A chorus is growing for changing the language to signal that the Fed’s next move could be a rate hike or cut, depending on how the economy evolves.

Jerome Powell speaks at his last press conference as Federal Reserve chair in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 2026. His term as chair ends on May 15. (Li Rui/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Outgoing Fed Chair Powell said in his last press conference on April 29 that the center of the Fed’s rate-setting committee is moving toward “a more neutral place” — that is, holding steady and away from eventually cutting rates.

Traders largely expect the Fed to hold rates steady for the rest of the year, though the odds for a rate hike have risen to 20% for October and are pegged at 30% for December.

Warsh said during his confirmation hearing that he wants “messier” interest rate-setting meetings, where a “good family fight” can lead to better economic decisions.

He’s likely to get it. And if he can’t convince the rest of the committee to cut rates, Warsh could also take heat from Trump, who favored Warsh for his views on lower rates.

“There will be no majority for renewed consideration of cuts until the Fed has been able to confirm tariff inflation is falling into the rear view mirror, oil is passing through with only moderate and expected one-time impacts on core inflation, core services (excluding) housing is finally starting to cool in a persistent manner, and AI spillovers are not changing the overall trajectory of disinflation,” said Guha — who also warned that dynamic will threaten tension with Trump.

“The perception challenge for Warsh may prove just as important as the policy challenge,” Floro said. “Because the administration has been vocal about wanting lower rates, any dovish pivot risks intensifying scrutiny around Fed independence.”

Jennifer Schonberger is a veteran financial journalist covering markets, the economy, and investing. At Yahoo Finance she covers the Federal Reserve, Congress, the White House, the Treasury, the SEC, the economy, cryptocurrencies, and the intersection of Washington policy with finance. Follow her on X @Jenniferisms and on Instagram.