White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair discusses controversy over the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion renovations on ‘Kudlow.’
The makeover of the Federal Reserve’s Washington D.C. headquarters, the Marriner S. Eccles Building, has become a lightning rod for Chairman Jerome Powell already under fire from President Donald Trump, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott and others for not cutting interest rates.
Some of his critics have compared the over-budget project to the Taj Mahal and the Palace of Versailles after costs ballooned from around $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought recently sent a letter to Powell asking about recent testimony and the compliance of design elements with plans submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). It is also floated as a pretext to fire Powell for “cause.”
Powell fired back with a written letter to OMB.
“The Board believes it is of the utmost importance to provide transparency for our decisions and to be accountable to the public. Accordingly, we have established a section of our public website to provide information on the project’s history, goals, engagement with state and federal entities, cost drivers, and specific features of the project. This information supports and further elaborates on my testimony of June 25, 2025, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs” said Powell in the first portion of the letter.
FOX Business takes a look at the controversial project in pictures.
Controversial construction on the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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