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White House slams Fed over finances and cost overrun on HQ renovations
By Dan Burns
Reuters
Thursday, July 10, 2025
The White House on today launched a fresh attack on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with a top Trump administration official saying Powell had "grossly mismanaged" the central bank, chastising him for running a deficit and for extensive cost overruns for building renovations.
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Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, in a letter addressed to Powell and posted on social media platform X, said: "Instead of attempting to right the Fed's fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington, D.C., headquarters."
The letter's reference to cost overruns in building renovations marked a new line of assault from the administration against Powell, who has been criticized repeatedly by President Donald Trump and his aides over the Fed chief's decision to keep interest rates steady since Trump returned to office in January.
"While continuing to run a deficit since FY23 (the first time in the Fed's history), the Fed is way over budget on the renovation of its headquarters. Now up to $2.5 billion, roughly $700 million over its initial cost," Vought wrote in an X post accompanying the letter.
"These renovations include terrace rooftop gardens, water features, VIP elevators, and premium marble. The cost per square foot is $1,923 -- double the cost for renovating an ordinary historic federal building. The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today's dollars!" ...
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