In his latest crusade to rein in spending, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has set his sights on the Federal Reserve.
Vought called out Chairman Jerome Powell for greenlighting luxury renovations to the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters that exceeded the original budget by roughly $700 million, totaling roughly $2.5 billion. The renovations include a rooftop terrace with gardens, VIP dining rooms and elevators, “premium” marble, and water features.
“The president is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve System,” Vought said in a statement. “Instead of attempting to right the Fed’s fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington, D.C., headquarters.”
“The cost per square foot is $1,923 — double the cost for renovating an ordinary historic federal building,” Vought added. “The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today’s dollars!”
‘Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.’
Vought also pointed to Powell’s congressional testimony in June, where he denied that the lavish renovations were taking place. Vought said Powell’s testimony “raises serious questions” about the renovation’s compliance with the National Capital Planning Act, which would require the project to 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 the major design elements,” Vought said. “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.”
The renovations were originally approved by the NCPC in September 2021 and featured plans to include the luxurious water features, terrace gardens, VIP elevators, and private dining rooms.
During the hearing, however, Powell insisted that these renovations were not taking place despite no changes being made to the original project.
“There’s no VIP dining room. There’s no new marble. There are no special elevators,” Powell said during the hearing. “There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”
Powell claimed that the construction plans previously approved in 2021 have since changed. Despite his claim, the Fed would not be able to change these plans without formally submitting the modifications to the NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts. According to the NCPC’s website, the latest approval for the project was submitted in September 2021, and there have been no new requests filed since then.
Because of these discrepancies, Vought said OMB will be conducting further oversight on the project.
“Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.”
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