I believe the stance of monetary policy and whether it is considered hawkish or dovish is not absolute and is more importantly relative to the global economy. The Federal Reserve's message could stay unchanged for the year, but the perceived hawkish-ness or dovish-ness of policy by the market could drastically change. If global economic conditions continue to deteriorate, a "patient" Fed that is on pause, reluctant to lower rates and with a bias to continue tightening later could become viewed by the market as very hawkish even if there is no change in policy.