OMB Director Questions Powell Over Fed HQ Renovation Spending

The $2.5 billion construction of the central bank’s headquarters has already overrun its budget by $700 million.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 25, 2025. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought has criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a letter dated July 10 and said he is concerned about the renovation cost for the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.

Vought said plans for the building may have violated government building rules and warned that the construction could be halted immediately.

“The President is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve System,” Vought wrote in a letter he posted to social media platform X on Thursday. “Instead of attempting to right the Fed’s fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington D.C. headquarters.”

In a statement posted to X, Vought said the $2.5 billion construction of the central bank’s headquarters has already overrun its budget by $700 million.

He said renovation plans for the 90-year-old Marriner S. Eccles building 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,” Vought said. “The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today’s dollars!”

In his letter to Powell, Vought pointed to testimony the Fed chair gave before the Senate Banking Committee on June 25.

During the testimony, Powell denied there would be any luxurious upgrades to the central bank’s headquarters, adding that some things that were in initial renovation plans from 2021 have since been removed.

“There’s no VPI [sic] dining room. There’s no new marble. There are no special elevators,” Powell told lawmakers during the hearing. “There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”

Vought said Powell’s testimony raises “serious questions” about the project’s compliance with the National Capital Planning Act, which requires that projects like the Fed headquarters renovation be approved by the National Capital Planning Commission.

“Although minor deviations from approved plans may be inevitable, your testimony appears to reveal that the project is out of compliance with the approved plan with regard to major design elements,” Vought wrote.

“This would bring the project outside of the NCPC’s approval and thus in violation of the NCPA, and require the Fed to immediately halt construction and obtain a new approval from the NCPC before proceeding any further.”

Vought also noted that Powell told congressional lawmakers that the Eccles Building was in desperate need of renovation and had never undergone refurbishment.

Vought said this was incorrect and that it underwent a comprehensive renovation between 1999 and 2003 that included an update to its roof and building systems.

He concluded the letter by asking Powell to respond to 11 questions about the renovation project, including what, if any, changes had been made to the 2021 plans, within seven business days.

President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have repeatedly criticized Powell for failing to lower interest rates, with the president referring to the Fed chair in an April 21 social media post as “Mr. Too Late” and accusing him of potentially slowing down the U.S. economy by keeping rates too high.

In a July 9 social media post, Trump urged the central bank to lower the federal benchmark interest rate by at least 3 percentage points.

“Our Fed Rate is AT LEAST 3 Points too high. ‘Too Late’ is costing the U.S. 360 Billion Dollars a Point, PER YEAR, in refinancing costs,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

“No Inflation, COMPANIES POURING INTO AMERICA. ‘The hottest Country in the World!’ LOWER THE RATE!!!”

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve for comment.