Journalism of Courage
US President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to bring criminal charges against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his Congressional testimony that he gave last year for a Fed building project, an action that Powell has termed a “pretext” to leverage more influence over the central bank’s monetary policies.
Powell, in a video, said that the US Justice Department served the central bank with subpoenas and cautioned that the department could issue a criminal indictment over the testimony the Fed chair gave to the Senate Committee regarding the Federal Reserve buildings.
In 2018, the erstwhile Trump administration had transferred Constitution Avenue building to the Fed to allow a renovation that would put “a vacant building back in productive use, allow the Federal Reserve Board to consolidate several leases and result in savings for taxpayers,” Reuters reported.
According to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, the cost of renovations has overshot the Budget by “$700 million and counting” as of mid 2025. The current estimated cost of the Fed’s budget remained at $2.46 billion up from $1.88 billion in 2024.
The Fed’s budget for the renovation went up due to several factors, including labour and material costs which were higher than usual, changes in design done in order to preserve historic buildings and their appearance, and other issues like contamination in the ground.
The buildings, which are being renovated by the Federal Reserve, were built almost a century ago and never renovated. They require new plumbing, electrical, heating, water, and other infrastructure upgrades. There is no Governors-only elevator or VIP dining room.
(with inputs from Reuters)
