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 as it began a new wait-and-see policy stance amid a cloudy economic outlook and uncertainty over whether some of President Donald Trump’s policies could stymie the fight against inflation.