President Trump on Tuesday suggested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s handling of renovations to the central bank’s headquarters could be a fireable offense, seizing on an issue that has become a mounting point of criticism among Powell’s critics.
“I think he’s terrible. I think he’s a total stiff. But the one thing I didn’t see him is a guy that needed a palace to live in,” Trump told reporters in Pennsylvania when asked if he would fire Powell.
Asked if spending $2.5 billion on renovations to the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters is a fireable offense, Trump replied, “I think it sort of is.”
Trump has for months raged against Powell over the Fed’s decision not to lower interest rates, a decision the chair has attributed to uncertainty around the president’s aggressive use of tariffs.
Trump has in the past stopped short of saying he would fire Powell, something he may not even have the legal authority to do. Powell’s term ends in May 2026.
But top White House officials have in recent days shifted their focus to the cost of the Fed’s renovations, raising questions about whether the president and his allies may try to oust Powell for cause before his term as chair expires next May.
Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote to Powell last week accusing the Fed chair of mismanaging the central bank. He cited multiple discrepancies between Powell’s testimony to Congress about the renovations and apparent changes to the overhaul.
Trump recently appointed deputy chief of staff James Blair to the National Capital Planning Commission. Blair has indicated he will use his position on the commission to look into whether Powell ran afoul of the law with the renovations.
Powell has asked the inspector general of the central bank to review the renovations, a source confirmed this week.
In an attempt to quell concerns around the project, the Fed this week posted a Q&A to its webpage addressing some of the details of the project and arguing the renovations will “reduce costs over time by allowing the Board to consolidate most of its operations.”
The Fed cited “various factors” for the increased costs, including differences over time between estimates and actual costs and unexpected hiccups such as toxic contamination in soil and more asbestos than anticipated.
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