Transcript: Minneapolis Fed president and CEO Neel Kashkari on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 3, 2026

Face The Nation Transcripts Transcript: Minneapolis Fed president and CEO Neel Kashkari on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 3, 2026 .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-face-the-nation.jpg'); } May 3, 2026 / 11:58 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The following is the transcript of the interview with Minneapolis Fed president and CEO Neel Kashkari that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 3, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Neel Kashkari, who is the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Good morning.NEEL KASHKARI (President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis): Good morning, Margaret.MARGARET BRENNAN: So, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged this past week, and on Wednesday, you were one of three regional presidents who indicated that future rate cuts may not be appropriate and a hike could even be in the cards. You- you dissented there- are you saying that the financial markets and the White House should no longer expect the Fed to cut rates?KASHKARI: I think we all need to be open-minded about where interest rates are going, because there's so much uncertainty coming out of the Middle East. You know, I think I'm very focused, and many of my colleagues are, what happens in Iran, how long the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the longer it's closed, the higher likely energy prices and fertilizer prices will go, the bigger impact it's going to have on inflation here in America, and then we at the Fed have to take that on board. And so, I was simply saying that there's so much uncertainty about the outlook in the Middle East right now, I don't feel comfortable signaling that a rate cut is in the cards. You know, we might in the- in worse scenarios, we might have to go the other direction.MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you were just listening to Kevin Hassett, the president's economic adviser. He was not directly answering the question of what comes next,...