Vance rips the Fed on interest rates after May consumer price index cools down

Vice President J.D. Vance criticized the Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates, a move that President Trump has repeatedly called for, after prices in May rose at a slower rate than expected.

“The president has been saying this for a while, but it’s even more clear: the refusal by the Fed to cut rates is monetary malpractice,” Mr. Vance wrote in an X post Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index for May, released Wednesday, showed that costs increased just 0.1%, which was less than projected and less than April, when prices rose 0.2%.

Overall inflation rose slightly higher in May — 2.4% — from 2.3%.

Mr. Trump has called for Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, to reduce interest rates. He has given him the nickname “Too Late” for his decision to maintain the current level.

The Federal Open Market Committee said the central bank decided to keep the benchmark rate between 4.25% and 4.5% last month, once again defying Mr. Trump.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further,” the  committee said. “The committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.”

Mr. Trump railed against Mr. Powell earlier this month after the payroll firm ADP reported the private sector added only 37,000 jobs in May, the lowest number since March 2023.

“ADP NUMBER OUT!!! ‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.“He is unbelievable!!!” 

Some reports in April indicated that the president is looking for ways to get Mr. Powell out of the chairman position. The Fed is an independent agency that is supposed to be free from direct political pressure. The president appoints a Fed chairman every four years, but does not have the authority to fire the chairman.

Mr. Powell’s term as chair ends May 2026.

But Mr. Trump, perhaps wary of a downturn in the stock market, has said he has “no intentions of firing him.” 

“I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” Mr. Trump told reporters.