Outside of a U.S. President bending norms, the Fed also faces challenges in achieving its economic objectives. Inflation remains above its 2% target: Its preferred measure is at 2.4%, though core prices — considered a better gauge of where inflation is headed — rose 2.8% in November from a year ago.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday, amid a cloudy economic outlook and concerns that some of President Donald Trump’s policies could stymie the fight against inflation. Wednesday’s pause comes after the central bank cut interest rates by a full percentage point between September and December of last year.