The next Fed meeting is scheduled for June 16–17, 2026, with the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy statement due at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the second day.1Federal Reserve. Meeting Calendars and Information That statement will say whether the committee is changing the federal funds rate target range, which has been held at 3.5 to 3.75 percent since the April 29 decision.2Federal Reserve Board. Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement The June meeting is also one of the four this year that includes updated economic projections and the dot plot.
Full 2026 FOMC Schedule
The committee meets eight times a year on a roughly six-week cycle, and every meeting runs two days. Dates with an asterisk include a Summary of Economic Projections.
- January 27–28: completed
- March 17–18*: completed
- April 28–29: completed
- June 16–17*: upcoming
- July 28–29: upcoming
- September 15–16*: upcoming
- October 27–28: upcoming
- December 8–9*: upcoming
What Gets Released at 2:00 p.m.
The policy statement posts to the Federal Reserve’s website at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on the second day of the meeting.2Federal Reserve Board. Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement It announces the target range for the federal funds rate and any changes to how the Fed is managing its holdings of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities. An implementation note goes out at the same time, spelling out operational details like the interest rate paid on reserve balances, which was 3.65 percent as of April.3Federal Reserve Board. Implementation Note Issued April 29, 2026
About thirty minutes after the statement, the Chair holds a televised press conference. A live video link appears on the Board of Governors’ homepage shortly before it begins, and everything is archived under the “Monetary Policy” tab on the Federal Reserve’s site.
Why the June, September, and December Meetings Get Extra Attention
Four of the eight meetings each year include the Summary of Economic Projections. In 2026 those are March, June, September, and December.1Federal Reserve. Meeting Calendars and Information The summary contains the dot plot, a chart showing where each participant expects the federal funds rate to sit at the end of the current year and several years out. Markets read it as the closest thing to a forward roadmap the Fed provides, so these four meetings usually generate more volatility than the other four.
Minutes Come Three Weeks Later
Detailed minutes of each meeting are released three weeks after the policy decision.1Federal Reserve. Meeting Calendars and Information They describe the range of views expressed, note any dissents, and give a fuller sense of how divided the vote was and which economic indicators most concerned the committee. Full transcripts are released on a five-year delay, which puts them out of reach for anyone making current decisions.
Blackout Periods Signal a Meeting Is Close
In the days around each meeting, Fed officials stop speaking publicly about monetary policy. The blackout runs from the second Saturday before the meeting through the Thursday after it.4Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Blackout Periods The remaining 2026 windows:
- June 6–18
- July 18–30
- September 5–17
- October 17–29
- November 28 – December 10
If you notice Fed speeches suddenly go silent, a rate decision is roughly a week away.
How the Decision Reaches Your Accounts
The federal funds rate is what banks charge each other for overnight loans of reserve balances held at the Federal Reserve.5Federal Reserve. Federal Open Market Committee It doesn’t appear on your credit card bill, but it sits underneath most consumer lending. Short-term rates are usually tied to the prime rate, which typically runs about three percentage points above the federal funds rate.
Credit cards move fastest. Because most carry variable rates pegged to prime, a Fed change flows through within one or two billing cycles. Home equity lines of credit adjust on a similar timeline. Fixed-rate auto loans and federal student loans don’t budge once you’ve locked them in. Mortgage rates on 15- and 30-year fixed loans track Treasury yields more closely than the federal funds rate, so they sometimes move opposite a Fed cut. Savings accounts and CDs tend to drift down when the Fed cuts, though not instantly.