White House deputy chief of staff James Blair will visit the Federal Reserve’s headquarters Thursday to inspect the central bank’s renovation project.
The revelation, announced in a post on X, comes as President Donald Trump places the blame squarely on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for the rising renovation costs.
PHOTOS: THE FED’S $2.5B RENOVATION IRKING PRESIDENT TRUMP AND TEAM
The project to update the Fed’s two main Washington, D.C., office buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood is slated to cost $2.5 billion. The Fed, not taxpayers, is funding the renovation.
Powell has previously told lawmakers that the cost overruns are due to unexpected construction challenges and the nation’s inflation rate.
“There’s no new marble,” Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee in June. “There’s no special elevators. They’re old elevators that have been there. There are no new water features. There’s no beehives and there’s no roof garden terraces.”
Earlier in July, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought sent a letter to Powell calling the building makeover “an ostentatious overhaul.”
Powell fired back in his own letter.
He said both buildings needed “significant structural repairs and other updates,” citing the removal of asbestos and lead contamination and a replacement of some electrical, plumbing, ventilation, fire detection and suppression systems.
Tensions between Powell and Trump largely have deteriorated over the central bank’s interest rate decisions and broader monetary policies. Trump has instructed the Fed to cut rates, which he says could save the nation “hundreds of billions of dollars.”
A LOOK AT THE UNFOLDING BATTLE BETWEEN TRUMP AND POWELL OVER FED POLICY
Powell has kept the central bank’s key borrowing rate within a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, adopting a cautious approach to gauge the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Trump told reporters at the White House recently that Powell was doing a “lousy job” and said “so many people” have called to beg for the role at the helm of America’s central bank.
The president also said he most likely would not fire Powell before his term ends next May but added that he would not “rule out anything.”
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