CNBC's Steve Liesma reports on the latest remarks from New York Fed President John Williams.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams stated that U.S. monetary policy is well positioned as the country approaches 2026. Williams noted that downside risks to employment have increased, while inflation risks have lessened, and emphasized the importance of restoring inflation to 2% without harming employment. He also mentioned that tariffs are expected to have only a one-off effect on prices, and upgraded the GDP forecast for next year to 2.25%.

The report also covered ongoing discussions regarding the selection of the next Federal Reserve chair. There has been pushback against Kevin Hassett's candidacy, with some advocating for Kevin Warsh and others supporting Fed Governor Chris Waller. The final decision remains with the president, who is reportedly considering the impact of the Fed chair on interest rates.

NY Fed president: Monetary policy well positioned as we head into 2026

Getting some breaking news out of the Fed this morning. We'll turn to Steve Leesman with that, who's also got a piece on the wires now, Steve. That's pretty interesting. We'll get to the Williams headlines first, though. Yeah. John Williams, Fed president, saying monetary policy is well positioned as we head into twenty twenty six. That is language the Fed chair used at the meeting recently that people took to say the Fed was on hold, but not entirely clear. This is where Williams is headed. He says downside risks to employment have increased, while upside risks to inflation have lessened somewhat. At the same time, he says it's imperative for the Fed to restore two percent inflation without increasing risk to employment. He does expect tariffs to end up having just a one off effect on the price level, doesn't see continuing inflation from tariffs. The tariff effects he acknowledges have been more muted and drawn out than anticipated, though they have contributed, he believes, a half a point to the overall inflation level. Despite the uncertainty that's been out there this year, Williams says the U.S. economy has shown considerable resilience and upgrades. Its forecast sees two and a quarter percent GDP next year, up from just one and a half percent this year. He sees unemployment gradually declining over the next few years, while inflation next year will be below two and a half percent. The economy now, he says, appears to be turning the corner. So, guys, you could take that either way. I could see him supporting additional cuts from that statement or this idea of being well-positioned, being taken by the market as saying we're on hold for a bit. Yeah, it's definitely more dovish than the commentary that we got on Friday from the Hawks, like you spoke to Goolsbee and Schmidt. You also have some reporting on on the Fed chair race between the two Kevins. Yeah, it ain't over, Sarah. What we're hearing is that there has been some pushback communicated to the president, to the administration on Kevin Hassett. And this could explain this gap that we had where the interviews were off and then they were put back on, at least for Kevin Warsh. And we've heard two things. One is that some people are complaining specifically about Hassett and others, rather than doing that, are promoting the idea of Kevin Warsh to be Fed chair. So and this has been communicated to the president through a variety of different ways. And so there is some high profile blowback on this inevitability of Kevin Hassett becoming Fed chair. That might explain why he took more, by the way, of a view of of independence of the Fed in his interview with Face the Nation yesterday. But Steve, if there's this belief that he's too close to the president and that's seen as a negative, but isn't it still a positive when the president's the one making the decision? Yes, that is true. However, I think the president is almost certainly going to be mindful of the effect of the Fed chair on interest rates. And I know that the president, he we know that he wants lower rates. And the interesting question is, how do you get there? Do you get there with somebody who will go in and do your bidding at the Fed and reduce rates? We've seen how the tenure has behaved while the Fed has been cutting and it really not has not incorporated all of the rate cuts from the Fed. So I think there's some discussion that's being had from market people to the president about what kind of impact the wrong choice might have. Although that's why I think that this is all much ado about nothing on both of them, because the bond market is always going to be in charge. And Kevin Hassett knows that and Kevin Warsh knows that. And and so if there's like some jump in rates because of questions about credibility, that's going to pull them back. That's why I think it's kind of overblown. Well, it may be overblown, Sarah. I know what my reporting says, which is what it is. And there may be that people are overly concerned in ways they shouldn't. I know that people have also said to the president both would be a good choice. That's also part of the reporting that we've had and we've reported that as well. Is Waller out? Is he still being interviewed? I think that he would probably be most a lot of investors that I talked to first choice. I've heard the same thing as you on that, Sarah. But I've been unable to confirm if there's an additional or there is a rescheduled interview of Fed Governor Chris Waller at the White House. OK.

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Hong Kong Island

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Bondi Beach

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Council of the City of Sydney

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Breakdown