December inflation holds at 2.7% as DOJ probes Fed chair

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released Dec. 2025 Consumer Price Index data on Jan. 13, 2026. Inflation remained at 2.7% year-over-year for both headline and core CPI. The reading matched economists' projections of 2.7% for both measures. Month-over-month, consumer prices increased 0.3% from Nov. to Dec..

Inflation has stalled above the Federal Reserve's 2% target for over a year. The rate briefly climbed to 3% in Sep. 2025 before easing back to 2.7% in Nov. and Dec.. Price gains were led by shelter and food, which rose 0.4% and 0.7% over the month respectively. Energy prices climbed 0.3% in Dec..

Coffee prices jumped nearly 20% in Nov. 2025 compared to a year earlier. Beef prices climbed 16% over that same period. But egg prices plummeted 20% in Dec. compared to the previous year. Over 12 months, the energy index increased 2.3% and the food index increased 3.1%.

Fed Chair JPJerome Powell announced on Jan. 11, 2026, that the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into him. DOJ issued grand jury subpoenas related to Powell's Senate testimony last year about renovation cost overruns at the Fed headquarters building in 🏛️Washington, D.C. The renovation costs ballooned to $2.5 billion, according to reports Trump publicized.

Powell released a video statement Sunday night saying DOJ threatened 'criminal indictment' but he's done nothing wrong. He called the investigation a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed's interest rate policy. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a Trump appointee and former Fox News host, approved the investigation in Nov. 2025.

Trump has publicly demanded rate cuts for months, arguing the Fed should lower rates to stimulate the economy. Powell has maintained rates must stay higher to combat persistent inflation above the Fed's 2% target. Trump denied any involvement in the criminal investigation during an NBC News interview. The timing of the DOJ probe two days before the inflation release heightened questions about Federal Reserve independence.

Some Republican senators including Thom Tillis criticized the investigation as inappropriate pressure on the Fed. Former Federal Reserve chairs and Treasury officials also raised alarms about the probe's threat to central bank independence. Pirro defended the investigation Monday night, saying the Fed 'ignored' requests for information about cost overruns and Powell's testimony, 'necessitating the use of legal process.' She wrote that 'no one is above the law.'