Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he continues to believe the U.S. central bank should cut interest rates at the end of this month amid mounting risks to the economy and the strong likelihood that tariff-induced inflation will not drive a persistent rise in price pressures.

Christopher Waller, a potential contender to be the next chair of the central bank, said the Federal Reserve should not wait for the labor market to weaken to reduce interest rates.

The speech comes as President Donald Trump intensifies pressure on the Fed to lower borrowing costs. Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell and has floated firing and replacing him before his term ends in May 2026. Waller, a Trump appointee, is considered a top contender for the job in part because of his dovish stance on interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is an independent organization, meant to be insulated from politics, and the Supreme Court suggested this year that President Donald Trump would need a reason, or cause, to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

A Federal Reserve governor seen as a candidate to succeed Chair Jerome Powell laid out his strongest case yet for a rate cut this month, aligning himself with President Trump's demands that the central bank lower interest rates.

As the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte oversees the system that helps keep the U.S. mortgage market liquid.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, created in 2008 to oversee mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has historically been a sleepy agency run by a relative unknown. Its current chief, 37-year-o

The independence of central banks, which allows policymakers to operate free from political meddling, is considered sacrosanct by investors and economists.