The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will lower interest rates for the first time in more than four years as the U.S. central bank starts to reverse the restrictive conditions it imposed to beat back inflation,

Investors have sent stocks and bonds higher on expectations of a soft landing. But some Republicans think the central bank overstepped its bounds.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday by half a percentage point, an unusually large move and a clear signal that central bankers think they are winning.