There's a deep divide at the Fed as the Jerome Powell era comes to a close.

Plus a Supreme Court decision that weakens the Voting Rights Act.

Essentially what they can do as a result of this ruling is eliminate districts that have a majority of black voters

and then disperse those black voters into

other districts that would be dominated by white voters.

And the Pentagon gives its first precise number for the military cost of the Iran war so far,

$25 billion.

It's Wednesday, April 29th.

I'm Alex O'Slelo for the Wall Street Journal.

This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Let's begin with the latest at the Federal Reserve. The central bank held interest rates steady today.

That part was widely

expected. But not everything in today's announcement was so predictable. Journal Economics reporter

Matt Grossman is here now to discuss. Matt, let's start with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. This was his last

meeting as Fed Chair, likely to be succeeded by Trump's pick Kevin Warsh. Powell said he'll

stick around as governor for a period that has yet to be decided. He said the Justice Department's

investigation into him makes that necessary. I will not leave the board until this investigation is

well and truly over with transparency and finality. And I stand by that. He said the independence

of the central bank

was at risk. My concern is really about the series of legal attacks on the Fed, which threaten

our ability to conduct monetary policy without considering political factors.

How typical is it for a former chair to stick around on the board like this? And what could

...