WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers and home buyers, business people and political leaders have been waiting for months for what the Federal Reserve is poised to announce this week: That it’s cutting its key interest rate from a two-decade peak. It’s likely to be just the first in a series of rate cuts that should make borrowing more affordable now that the Fed has deemed high inflation to be all but defeated. At the same time, plenty of uncertainty still surrounds this week’s Fed meeting. How much will the policymakers reduce their benchmark rate? By a traditional quarter-point or by an unusually large half-point? Will they keep cutting when they meet later this year and into 2025?