Trump Urges Powell to Resign from Fed Board Over Headquarters Renovation Costs Ballooning to 2.4 Billion Dollars
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US President Donald Trump has called on Jerome Powell, former chair of the US central bank, to immediately resign as a member of the Fed's Board of Governors, over the Fed's headquarters renovation project in Washington whose cost has surged from an initial estimate of 1.3 billion dollars in 2020 to 2.4 billion dollars today, even though a report by the Fed's Office of Inspector General found no evidence of federal criminal wrongdoing or administrative misconduct. Trump posted on social media on Wednesday, September 30, that the construction project had massively exceeded budget, and said he had ordered Todd Blanche, the Attorney General, to review the inspector general's report and consider what action should be taken next, adding that if Powell does not resign, the US government should pursue legal action to the fullest extent. The OIG report cited several administrative shortcomings, such as the Fed's Board of Governors failing to fix deficiencies that had previously caused earlier projects to run over budget, not setting a cost cap as recommended, and, as of July, roughly four years after the project began and after contracts had been put out to tender, the Fed still had not set a guaranteed maximum price for the project, with design changes, site conditions, inflation, and a lack of bidders among the factors driving up costs. Kevin Warsh, the current Fed chair, said in a statement attached to the report that the Fed would act on the OIG's recommendations, would give the General Services Administration a role in managing the project and work with the Fed until construction is completed, and would hire an independent auditor to review all costs approved so far. Powell remains a member of the Fed's Board of Governors after his second term as chair ended in May, with his term as governor due to end in January 2028, while the Federal Reserve Act stipulates that the president may remove a Board of Governors member only for cause.