They were not, though, in a panic or worried about an imminent recession. Instead, they were thinking that the old interest rate would not be appropriate going forward.

Michelle Bowman said such a big initial rate cut could complicate the Fed's mission of getting inflation back to its 2% target.

Here’s how inflation and the cost of borrowing have changed since the Fed started raising interest rates in March 2022. After peaking at 9.1% in June 2022, inflation has eased, falling to a three-year low of 2.5% in August, just above the Fed’s 2% target rate.