The Federal Reserve (U.S. central bank) is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, taking the target range to 3.75 percent to 4 percent. The move would be the Fed's first rate increase since July 2023 and would place Kevin M. Warsh, who took over as chairman in May, in the cross hairs of President Trump less than two months before midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress. Trump has argued that the United States should have the world's lowest interest rate and threatened to cut off a broad swath of U.S. trade if the Fed did not lower rates. The Fed will publish its decision at 2 p.m. in Washington, followed by Warsh's news conference at 2:30 p.m. The number of dissenting officials will depend on the decision. A hold would produce at least three opposing votes, likely from Beth M. Hammack of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed and Lorie K. Logan of the Dallas Fed, who supported a quarter-point increase at the Fed's July meeting because they believed higher rates would better position the central bank to address elevated inflation.