Just before Joe Biden leaves the White House and Donald Trump returns, two prominent Republican members of the Federal Reserve Board are weighing in on how fast interest rates should come down. The two — Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller — say rates can come down in a measured way.

But minutes from their December meeting suggest that the decision was a close call — and that there is no guarantee policymakers will lower rates again anytime soon. The minutes of the central bank’s Dec.

Before the strong December jobs report was released, the odds were already low for an interest rate cut in the next Federal Reserve decision on January 29.