Warsh’s prepared testimony went to the House Financial Services Committee on July 14 and the Senate Banking Committee on July 15. Coverage of the hearing noted he spoke shortly after the government reported that prices fell 0.4% from May to June, mostly on cheaper gasoline. Year-over-year inflation dropped to 3.5% from 4.2%; core rose 2.6%.
A cooler monthly print and a hawkish chair can coexist. The Committee had already spent the first half of the year on hold. Three members would dissent in favor of a hike two weeks later. For a borrower, the takeaway from mid-July was not “inflation is solved.” It was “this Fed will not rush to ease just because gas prices dropped for a month.”
Sources: Federal Reserve testimony (July 14, 2026); contemporaneous hearing coverage of the June CPI report.