"Federal Reserve mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos wrote that Fed members discussed the possibility of slowing or pausing interest rate cuts at their meeting earlier this month if progress on reducing inflation stalled. According to Fed meeting notes released on Tuesday, officials argued that if the economy performed in line with their expectations that inflation would continue to decline steadily, then "a gradual move toward more neutral rate setting may be appropriate." All 19 officials involved in the discussions agreed to cut the Fed's benchmark short-term interest rate by 25 percentage points, according to the meeting notes. Some policymakers believe the risk of a more pronounced slowdown in the job market or the economy has diminished since the September meeting. Many also said there was greater uncertainty about where interest rates should be set in an economy that needed neither stimulus nor monetary restraint, considerations that "make a gradual reduction in policy constraints appropriate", the meeting notes.