WASHINGTON (AP) — In what was expected to be a contentious Federal Reserve meeting, policymakers on Wednesday instead emerged with a nearly unanimous voice to cut interest rates by a quarter-point, tamping down -- at least for now -- concerns over its independence amid President Donald Trump's relentless pressure for steeper cuts and his unprecedented effort to fire a top Fed official.

The Fed's interest-rate setting committee went into the meeting with the economy's future uncertain. The White House has also floated several members of the Fed's governing board as potential replacements for the current chair, Jerome Powell, when his term ends in May, creating incentives for those officials to push for the deep rate cuts Trump has demanded.

As a result, some economists expected as many as

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