• Glen Powell's latest film, "Hit Man," is his best-reviewed project to date.
• Surprisingly, one of his biggest box-office hits, "Anyone But You," is near the bottom of the list.
• His earlier rom-com "Set It Up" and the Oscar-nominated "Hidden Figures" are some of his best movies.

No, you're not imagining it: Glen Powell is everywhere.

The actor's status has skyrocketed in the last few years, arguably starting in 2022 with his appearance in the long-awaited "Top Gun: Maverick." His supporting role in that movie — and Tom Cruise's sometimes terrifying mentorship — seemed to be what set Powell on the path to leading man.

He capitalized on that success with hits like the Sydney Sweeney rom-com "Anyone But You" and more recently, the Netflix comedy "Hit Man," his third collaboration with director Richard Linklater.

The latter is getting glowing reviews, but Powell has been around for years and has more than a handful of credits to his name. Here's a rundown of every Glen Powell movie and TV show ranked from worst to best, according to critics.

Note: For the purposes of this list, we're only including projects with a Rotten Tomatoes critic score. The list only includes movies and shows in which Powell has an on-screen role as a named character.

"Misconduct"

Powell had a supporting role in this forgettable 2016 thriller that flopped at the box office despite having two Oscar winners (Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino) in its ensemble.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%

"Ride Along 2"

The actor donned some fake tattoos to play drug dealer Troy in the 2016 Ice Cube and Kevin Hart comedy sequel to 2014's "Ride Along."

Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%

"The Expendables 3"

Powell went toe-to-toe with action legends like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Dolph Lundgren in the third film in "The Expendables" franchise. The 2014 movie wasn't as well-received as the two that came before it.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 32%

"Sand Castle"

Powell played the ill-fated Sergeant Chutsky in Netflix's 2017 war drama that also starred Nicholas Hoult and Henry Cavill.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 47%

"Anyone But You"

Powell charmed the pants off of audiences opposite Sydney Sweeney in "Anyone But You," a delightful rom-com that should usher in a renaissance for the genre. Critics, however, were more lukewarm on the movie.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 53%

"Sex Ed"

Not to be confused with the similarly titled Netflix series, Powell starred in this 2014 comedy playing the roommate of Haley Joel Osment's character.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%

"Scream Queens"

Never forget Chad Radwell. Powell played the fan-favorite philanderous frat boy in Ryan Murphy's underrated horror-comedy slasher series.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%

"Devotion"

On the heels of that other naval pilot movie he was in, Powell also found time to star in the 2022 biographical war film "Devotion." Based on a true story, Powell played real-life Korean War hero Tom Hudner.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

Powell played the American boyfriend of Lily James' character in this 2018 historical romantic drama, based on Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows' 2008 novel of the same name.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%

"The Lying Game"

Powell had a guest role in this short-lived YA drama series on The CW about long-lost twin sisters.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%

"Everybody Wants Some!!"

Powell's earlier team-up with Linklater was also a hit with critics. He played Finnegan in the 2016 teen comedy about college baseball players in Texas in the 1980s.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

"Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood"

Another team-up with Linklater accounts for one of the best-reviewed movies in Powell's career. He voiced Bostick, a NASA official, in the 2022 animated coming-of-age dramedy loosely based on Linklater's own childhood experience watching the first Moon landing.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

"Set It Up"

Before there was "Anyone But You," there was "Set It Up." The 2018 rom-com starred Powell opposite Zoey Deutch as two bickering assistants with demanding bosses who fall in love.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

"Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous"

Powell voices camp counselor Dave in the animated sci-fi adventure series, Netflix's first TV show set in the "Jurassic Park" universe. It aired from 2020 to 2022.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

"Hidden Figures"

Powell played the real-life astronaut John Glenn, who became the third American in space, in the 2016 biographical drama inspired by the untold story of the three Black mathematicians who worked at NASA during the space race.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%

"Top Gun: Maverick"

Powell played cocky pilot Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin in the long-awaited "Top Gun" sequel opposite Tom Cruise's Maverick and Miles Teller's Rooster.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%

"Hit Man"

Powell's latest project is also his best-reviewed. He stars as Gary Johnson, a professor who moonlights for the New Orleans Police Department as a fake hitman. The 2023 rom-com was directed by Linklater from a script Powell and Linklater cowrote together, based on a true story.

Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%

• Daniel Radcliffe admits he avoids watching "heavy, hour-long" TV shows.
• Radcliffe prefers cartoons and reality TV, crediting "The Simpsons" for shaping his interests.
• Radcliffe has voiced roles in "The Simpsons," "BoJack Horseman," and is currently on the Netflix animated series "Mulligan."

Daniel Radcliffe admits he avoids "heavy, hour-long" TV shows at all costs.

The "Harry Potter" star, who lends his voice to the Netflix animated series "Mulligan," recently spoke with Comic Book Resources about his TV-watching habits.

"Honestly, I watch cartoons, and I watch reality TV," said Radcliffe. "I've never seen 'Breaking Bad.' I've never watched 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire.' All the sort of heavy, hour-long stuff. Just, I can't."

Radcliffe's love of animation is evident in his list of credits: he's voiced roles in animated series like "The Simpsons," "Robot Chicken," "BoJack Horseman," and Rick and Morty."

"I think it does probably in part stem from growing up on 'The Simpsons,'" Radcliffe said of why he loves the genre. "I was watching 'Jeopardy!' the other night, and one of the contestants credited a ton of his trivia knowledge to 'The Simpsons.' That's absolutely true of me as well. There are so many weird facts and things, from my general knowledge of the world to my sense of humor, [that] were formed in some way by 'The Simpsons.'"

Radcliffe has appeared three times on "The Simpsons" to date. In the season 22 "Treehouse of Horror" episode, he played a young vampire named Edmund; in season 25, he played Diggs, a transfer student with a love for falconry who befriends Bart; and in season 29, he voiced himself in an episode.

He went on to explain why cartoons that touch on mature themes wouldn't work if they were live-action.

"I think a lot of 'BoJack Horseman' would be just too fucking bleak and sad if it wasn't a talking horse," Radcliffe said. "The classic example is Homer strangling Bart in 'The Simpsons.' In a live-action [series], that's just like a horrendous act of child abuse that there's nothing funny about whatsoever, whereas it's a running gag in 'The Simpsons,' and it's funny because of what Bart's neck does."

• Russian naval ships arrived in Cuba on Wednesday ahead of military exercises in the Caribbean.
• One of the vessels, the submarine Kazan, is one of a new class that has worried the US and NATO.
• The Yasen-class subs are quiet, difficult to track, and heavily armed for attacks against land- and sea-based targets.

One of Russia's most concerning new submarines has pulled up off the coast of Cuba ahead of planned military exercises in the area.

The Kazan, a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine, is one of a relatively new class of subs that has worried the US and Western militaries for years due to its stealth and strike capabilities.

Three Russian ships, as well as the Kazan, arrived in Cuba on Wednesday for a five-day official visit before a large, simultaneous air and maritime exercise in the Caribbean. The deployment includes the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which is armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles, another challenge for Western militaries.

While US officials have said they're monitoring the vessels and don't anticipate any imminent danger in the region, the Kazan's arrival is notable. US and NATO officials have long expressed anxiety over the capabilities of the Kazan and other subs like it.

Russia's Yasen-class submarines, like the Kazan, are formidable threats within Russia's navy, which has long boasted a rather capable submarine fleet. The Russians began work on the class during the Cold War, and the first sub in the class, the Severodvinsk, was commissioned late in 2013.

Around the time the Severodvinsk came about, Naval Sea Systems Command's program executive officer for submarines said at a naval symposium that going forward, the US would "be facing tough potential opponents," adding that "one only has to look at the Severodvinsk."

After the Severodvinsk was commissioned into the Russian navy, later submarines featured updated designs, designated as part of the Yasen-M class. The Kazan was the second sub of the class but the first of the new upgraded subs. It is noticeably smaller and features a quieter nuclear reactor.

The subs' newer, more advanced features make them quiet, difficult to track, heavily armed, and capable of attacks against land- and sea-based targets with little to no notice. These warships can carry Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles and, at a later date, the new Zircon missiles.

The shift in capability with the emergence of the Yasen-M class submarines suggested a change in use. Per a 2021 Royal United Services Institute analysis, the Kazan's "capacity to launch a range of anti-ship and land attack missiles" suggests that "long-range strike missions appear to be superseding sea lines of communication (SLOC) interdiction as a primary task."

In 2021, US Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said that the subs "are designed to deploy undetected within cruise-missile range of our coastlines to threaten critical infrastructure during an escalating crisis."

VanHerck, along with other US officials, have said the Yasen-class subs are "on par with ours" and repeatedly warned about the increasing presence of these vessels off of the US coast.

Russia plans to build at least nine Yasen submarines in total, but there are indications that more could be on the way in the future.

Russia's deployment in Cuba serves multiple purposes. It comes before Caribbean air and maritime exercises, the first Russia's held in the area since 2019. It serves to strengthen Russia-Cuba ties. And it demonstrates a show of force to the US amid the war in Ukraine.

Tensions are particularly high after the US hesitantly agreed to allow Ukraine to use its long-range weapons to strike targets in Russian territory.

US officials have said that movement of these vessels into the area is not a direct response to these developments or an escalation, noting that Cuba has hosted Russian ships every year from 2013 to 2020, and the Russian exercises are routine.

The vessels in this group, however, are notably among Russia's more advanced or carrying newer weapons. In the past, NATO officials have flagged the Yasen-class submarines, for instance, as "one of the big strategic challenges" the alliance faces.

• Amazon Fresh is offering grocery discounts to customers who return Amazon.com purchases there.
• The coupons are likely a way of getting you to shop at the chain, not just drop your returns off.
• Amazon has spent the last year making changes to stores as it tries to right its grocery business.

Amazon Fresh is giving customers who stop by to make a return an incentive to use the store for its intended purpose: buying groceries.

The stores are offering a series of coupons for patrons who use the stores to drop off items that they ordered on Amazon.com, including $10 off a purchase of at least $40 and a slice of pizza with a soda for $3.

Signs at Amazon Fresh stores read "Package return customers save big" and include QR codes so that customers can claim the coupons, according to a photo seen by Business Insider.

A website advertising "up to $12 off $40 at Amazon Fresh" for customers who make a return mentions that the offer is valid between April 17 and June 30 of this year or until Amazon runs out of codes for the promotion.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the discounts, adding that they apply when customers make a return at any of the chain's roughly 40 locations. "We see many of the customers who return or pickup packages in store each week also combine it with a shopping trip," the spokesperson said.

Amazon is likely trying to accomplish two things with the coupons, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of the website Supermarket Guru.

The discounts are meant to get customers making returns to stick around and buy groceries, he said. But they also save Amazon money processing returns — having customers bring items to an Amazon-owned location is cheaper for the company than sending them return packaging and a shipping label.

"It's a combination of reducing costs as well as trying to get new people to shop at Amazon Fresh," Lempert said.

Beyond the discounts, Amazon is still struggling to find a strategy for Fresh that works.

Amazon, which also owns Whole Foods, has made several changes to Fresh stores over the last year. Most recently, it pulled out its cashier-less Just Walk Out technology from Fresh stores in favor of its Dash shopping carts, which keep track of shoppers' selections and charge them accordingly. Amazon has also renovated a handful of the stores, adding Krispy Kreme doughnut shops and more major food brands.

"They're really not resonating," Lempert said of the stores. "I am a major Amazon.com shopper. I could not live without Amazon.com. I can live without Amazon Fresh."

Do you work or shop at Amazon Fresh and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• Apple's iOS 18 will support RCS this fall, improving texting between iPhone and Android users.
• But Android users will still show up as green text bubbles when messaging iPhones.
• Green text bubbles have long been a contentious point among non-iPhone users.

Android and iPhone owners have plenty to celebrate after Apple's big WWDC keynote, which revealed changes to how messaging between the two rivals will improve in iOS 18.

But Apple is still holding out on getting rid of the much-hated green text bubbles, according to a first glimpse from Apple.

Apple previously announced that it would support the Rich Communication Services, or RCS, protocol in its Messages app, but now we know more about how it will work and when it's launching. It's a big improvement over SMS, and the changes will roll out in the fall with iOS 18.

If you're an iPhone owner, Apple's RCS adoption means your Android friend won't receive a grainy compressed video or photo the next time you send one over. It will also introduce read receipts between the two devices.

RCS also makes it possible for emoji reactions to be more in line with the iMessage experience, ditching the written-out descriptions of an emoji reaction ("John loved your message" rather than the literal heart emoji reaction) and adding typing indicators. Apple didn't specifically highlight if those features will be available in the fall, but it's possible they could be.

Google spent years pressuring Apple to adopt RCS.

Apple finally caving is certainly a victory for Android users, but there's just one catch: Android bubbles are staying green.

While it may be easy to write off green bubbles as a superficial differentiator, the visible divide between Android and iPhone text bubbles has faced criticism from smartphone users. In August 2022, Google launched the #GetTheMessage campaign, which specifically highlighted the blue-green bubble issue.

"Texting between iPhone and Android is broken. It's time for Apple to fix green and blue bubbles, and texting for everyone," the social text said.

Apple, for its part, has said it's important to denote when someone is texting with someone else on the iMessage protocol because there's added security via end-to-end encryption that isn't present in SMS texts between iPhones and Androids (green text).

But the green bubbles are also something that can convince people to jump ship from Android to Apple — and keep iPhone users in its ecosystem. If an iPhone user switches to Android, they'll have to get used to green text bubbles when messaging with iPhones.

In 2021, legal documents revealed that Apple decided against developing an Android version of iMessage.

"The#1 most difficult [reason] to leave the Apple universe app is iMessage . . . iMessage amounts to serious lock-in" said a former Apple employee in 2016.

Phil Schiller, an Apple executive in charge of the App Store, later said, "Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us."

The Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Apple specifically calls out the green messages. The filing claims that it "signals to users that rival smartphones are lower quality" and causes "social stigma, exclusion, and blame for 'breaking' chats where other participants own iPhones."

Neither Apple nor Google immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment ahead of publication.

The green bubble stigma is very real, especially for younger consumers. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2022 the experience of several college students as non-iPhone users, with one even saying that "people don't seem to like green text bubbles that much and seem to have this visceral negative reaction to it."

It's a sentiment that continues to be loudly expressed, like this tweet that received over 70,000 likes.

And there are signs Apple's strategy is working. A 2021 survey conducted by Piper Sandler found that 87% of teens own an iPhone.

So while RCS will definitely bring some improvements come fall when iOS 18 launches, it will still be glaringly obvious for iPhone users when they're messaging with Android users.

For Apple, that's good for business.

• Samantha Brown avoids airport lounges, finding them overrated and anxiety-inducing.
• Brown, a seasoned traveler, prefers exploring terminals despite having lounge access.
• She enjoys walking, browsing, and people-watching, considering terminals more engaging.

Airport lounges can make travel days easier and more relaxing with cozy couches, complimentary meals, and — in some cases —free facials secluded from an otherwise busy terminal.

But not for Samantha Brown.

Brown, who flies 100,000 miles a year and hosts travel shows on networks like PBS and the Travel Channel, has access to Delta, United, and American Express lounges worldwide, but she prefers to spend her pre-flight time in terminals.

"The whole lounge experience is a tad bit overrated — there, I said it," Brown said in a recent TikTok video.

Business Insider recently interviewed Brown to find out why she avoids spending time in what are often the most luxurious settings a terminal can offer.

"Sometimes, I'll go in to get a cup of coffee, a meal, and use a nice, clean bathroom, but I don't spend time in the lounge," she said.

Lounges add a layer of anxiety around missing a flight

Brown said she often deals with travel anxiety. She combats this by arriving at the airport three hours before boarding — and avoiding lounges.

"I feel trapped in an airport lounge. And I can't relax. They're often far from my gate," she said. "And most of them don't make announcements. What if I forget?"

After getting through security, Brown says she heads straight to her gate for a "proof-of-life check" to ensure her flight is listed in its queue.

Then, she explores the terminal.

"I have never regretted how much time I've spent in the airport," she told BI. "There's always stuff to do."

Airport terminals are more fun

In lounges, Brown said people spend most of their time sitting, which doesn't appeal to her before boarding a flight on which she'll have to sit for hours longer.

Instead, Brown prefers taking long walks around the terminal to exercise, browse stores, and people-watch.

"Airports are my teenage mall. Some feel like cities in themselves, like the Denver airport is bigger than Manhattan," she said. "We're all in this place for a short moment. We're all going somewhere else. It's magic."

For Brown's packing tips and trip ideas for summer travel, check out her Summer Travel Trends Report in collaboration with Klarna.

• John Oliver bought the contents of a defunct Red Lobster at auction, beating out a local bakery.
• Oliver offered to buy the bakery new equipment if it created cakes in his likeness.
• The 'cake bears' are selling out rapidly, with all proceeds set to go to a local food pantry.

A small, family-owned bakery in the Hudson Valley is getting thousands of dollars' worth of new kitchen equipment following a good-humored feud with John Oliver.

On Sunday's episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," Oliver recounted how the viral back-and-forth stemmed from a stunt on his show in which he purchased all of the kitchen equipment from a shuttered Red Lobster in Kingston, New York, at auction.

Oliver recreated his own Red Lobster to exclusively manufacture the chain's hallowed cheddar biscuits.

But the local outlet News 12 reported that Oliver had beaten out another suitor.

Eric Deising, an owner of 59-year-old Deising's Bakery in Kingston, had left a sign on the defunct Red Lobster inquiring about a flat-top oven and convection oven, News 12 reported.

"John — he's just beating me all over the place," the bakery owner told the outlet of missing out on the equipment.

'Check out the donk on that cake bear'

Oliver responded to the report on his show on Sunday. "Last Week" had already donated all of the Red Lobster equipment, he said, and they hadn't even purchased either item Deising requested to begin with.

But Oliver offered a challenge. If the bakery made and sold bear-shaped cakes with Oliver's face on them, he said, he'd gift Deising's new ovens.

"Respectfully, check out the donk on that cake bear," Oliver said of the confection, which Deising's had previously offered. "That cake's got cakes."

Deising's rose to the occasion — with an altruistic bent.

On Monday, the bakery began selling "cake bears" with Oliver's face affixed with edible paper, News 12 reported.

Peter Deising, another owner at the bakery, told Business Insider the items had been a smash hit, with about 100 selling every hour. They're priced at $8 apiece.

He said Deising's planned to donate 100% of the proceeds from the cake bears to People's Place, a local food pantry.

The cake bears are available only through Sunday in-store, despite requests to ship from across the globe, he added.

Peter Deising told BI the kitchen equipment — which he estimated was worth thousands of dollars — was set to be delivered on Thursday.

A rep for "Last Week Tonight" declined to comment.

• Matty Healy and Gabbriette Bechtel have been romantically linked since September 2023. 
• They reportedly met through Charli XCX, who is engaged to Healy's The 1975 bandmate.
• The two announced their engagement while attending a Charli XCX show on June 11.

If you listened to Taylor Swift's latest album "The Tortured Poets Department," you might have thought about Matty Healy.

Swift seemed to reference her weeks-long relationship with Healy throughout the album. The pair dated briefly between May and June 2023 after Swift split from Joe Alwyn, her partner of six years.

Like Swift, who is now dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Healy has also moved on from their relationship. He was first linked to Gabbriette Bechtel, a model, in September 2023.

Late on Tuesday — just over a year on from Healy's high-profile split from Swift —the pair seemingly went public with their engagement on Instagram.

On Wednesday, the singer's mother, Denise Welch, confirmed the news while appearing on the panel of British talk show, "Loose Women."

"They went over to see their friends, Charli and George, in New York and I woke up this morning to the fact that they put it on Instagram!" Welch said on Wednesday's episode of the program.

Here's everything you need to know about Healy and Bechtel's relationship and engagement.

Bechtel is a model and musician

Highsnobiety reported that Bechtel — whose given name is Gabriella — was born in Orange County, California, in July 1997, to parents of Mexican and German ancestry.

Bechtel told Vogue that as a child, she wanted to become a professional ballerina, but ended up dancing in music videos when she moved to Los Angeles. From there, she launched a career as a model.

According to Vogue, Bechtel has appeared in a variety of campaigns for brands including Heaven By Marc Jacobs and Skims. She also walked the runway for Diesel's autumn/winter 2023 fashion show.

Outside modeling, Bechtel also makes cooking content that she posts on Instagram. She told Vogue that her parents influenced her love of cooking.

"Family meals were a big part of our life, we'd sit down together after school without our phones and talk about our day, and the cooking process was always a big part of that," Bechtel told Vogue.

Bechtel is also the lead vocalist of the band Nasty Cherry, which was formed by Charli XCX and was the subject of a Netflix original series titled "I'm With The Band." Nasty Cherry hasn't released music since 2021, and Bechtel confirmed that the band had broken up due to challenges posed by the pandemic.

"We couldn't do anything together, we couldn't tour our second EP, and we weren't able to make music together because we were all in different places in the world. So we just decided that it wasn't going to work out anymore," she told Highsnobiety.

"I miss it all the time. It ended too abruptly."

Healy and Bechtel were first linked in New York in 2023

In September 2023, People published photos of Healy and Bechtel kissing in SoHo in New York City. At the time, the publication reported that their connection was unclear — but that they both had a mutual friend in Charli XCX, who is engaged to The 1975 drummer George Daniel.

At first, the pair were quiet about the nature of their relationship and have never explicitly confirmed it. However, Healy's mother once interacted with Bechtel on Instagram after Bechtel posted a photo of herself in a thong and a leather apron from her collaboration with R&M Leathers.

"That's exactly how I hope to look in mine when it arrives!!" Healy's mother, Denise Welch, replied, accompanied by three thumbs up and heart emoji.

Bechtel also made a cameo on Welch's Instagram account, appearing in a photo with Welch, Healy, and his younger brother Louis. The three saw Welch's play, "The Gap," and she wrote in the caption of the post that it was "lovely to have the family in to see mum at work."

Bechtel alluded to her relationship with Healy in her March interview with Highsnobiety, saying that she wasn't bothered by the attention.

"I don't give a shit. I think it's hilarious. Go for it. Have fun. People have a lot to say," she told the publication. "You don't know me at all."

Rumors that Healy and Bechtel were engaged began circulating in early June

In a series of photos uploaded to Instagram on June 1, Bechtel can be seen wearing a black diamond ring on the third finger of her left hand.

While the 26-year-old made no reference to the previously unseen piece of jewelry in her caption of the post, her followers immediately began to speculate in the comments section that Healy, 35, had proposed.

Just under two weeks later, Betchel seemingly confirmed the rumors while she and Healy attended a Charli XCX concert in New York City by posting a close-up photo of a left hand wearing the same black stone ring.

"Marrying The 1975 is very brat @trumanblack," she wrote over the photo, tagging Healy's account and referencing Charli XCX's new album title "Brat."

Healy also reshared the post to his own account.

It was unclear at first if the post was an announcement or a joke, until the British musician's mother announced the news on "Loose Women," a UK talk show, the following day.

She said that she's "known for a few weeks now," appearing to confirm that the couple got engaged sometime before June, adding that Healy had the ring custom-made.

"Black diamond, he had it made for her," Welch said. "I couldn't be more thrilled."

"She is everything that I would want in a daughter-in-law," she added.

A representative for Healy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in its latest decision on Wednesday.
• It means that interest rate cuts will likely not happen until the second half of the year.
• Powell stated the Fed needs more proof the economy is moving in the right direction before cutting rates.

The nation's central bank is once again leaving interest rates unchanged as it works to lower inflation.

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it's holding its key interest rate benchmark steady in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, continuing the pause that first began in September last year. It follows new inflation data released earlier Wednesday morning — the Consumer Price Index found inflation unexpectedly cooled, increasing 3.3% year over year in May, a slight decrease from April's 3.4% reading.

Given that the jobs market is still hot, based on the latest data, and inflation is still above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the bank's latest decision confirms that it's willing to wait until it feels confident about the economy's direction before cutting interest rates.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly stated over the course of the year that while he recognizes the financial strain high interest rates are bringing to Americans, they need to be patient as the Fed progresses in its restrictive monetary policies.

"We've said that we don't think it would be appropriate to dial back our restrictive policy stance until we gain greater confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward 2%," Powell said during a May press conference.

Powell said during that press conference that there are two paths the economy could take that would allow the Fed to cut rates: more data to show inflation decreasing or "unexpected weakening in the labor market."

Still, some Democratic lawmakers think it's time for the Fed to cut rates, especially after the European Central Bank did so earlier this month for the first time in five years. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, John Hickenlooper, and Jacky Rosen sent a letter to Powell on Monday requesting that he cut rates, particularly to give Americans relief from high housing and auto insurance costs.

"This housing-related inflation is directly driven by high interest rates: reducing rates will reduce the costs of renting, buying, and building housing, lowering Americans' single highest monthly expense," they wrote. "Lowering interest rates will likely also decrease the cost of auto insurance as well, which has risen due to factors completely unrelated to the cost of lending."

Rep. Brendan Boyle and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, top Democrats on the House and Senate budget committees, respectively, similarly sent a letter to Powell on Monday urging him to cut rates, writing that "doing so is warranted by the data, will preserve the economic progress that was so hard fought, and will allow workers and families to enjoy the benefits of a strong economy."

Still, Americans will have to wait until at least the second half of the year to see any interest rate cuts, meaning the upcoming economic inflation and jobs data will be critical in swaying the Fed's next move.