12:49 PM EDT, 07/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Fed Chair Kevin Warsh (voter) said in prepared testimony that the FOMC has "no tolerance" for elevated inflation and is focused on restoring price stability, suggesting that the heightened inflation of the last five years will be "a thing of the past" if policy is done right.

Warsh's comments follow a consumer price report for June that showed an energy-led 0.4% decline in the overall index and a flat reading for core prices, slowing the year-over-year rates considerably, though they remain above the Fed's 2% target.

Warsh said in his testimony that it was just one data point and that the objective is to achieve price stability so that households do not need to think about it. He said that "job number one" is assuring that short-term inflation does not become sticky and longer-lasting.

Warsh added that the balance sheet remains part of monetary policy and that any changes will be clearly announced.

He said that politics has no place at the Fed, which will continue to stay out of fiscal policy. He agreed that housing interest rates remain high, which he attributed to high inflation, and repeated that the FOMC will deliver price stability that would lead to housing being more affordable.

Recent comments of note:

(July 13) Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voter) said that he is watching core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, closely to determine the underlying path of price growth and to make monetary policy decisions. Waller's comments come one day before the release of June consumer inflation data that is expected to show a slowdown in overall prices due to a drop in gasoline prices but a further gain in core prices that would maintain the current year-over-year rate.

(July 9) New York Fed President John Williams (voter) said that he expects energy prices to slow this year even as tensions in the Middle East have picked up but would not comment on how the FOMC could act at its next meeting at the end of the month.