Trump Continues to Pursue Powell, Demands His Resignation from the Fed
US President Donald Trump has called for the forced resignation of former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, despite a regulatory report that found no evidence of criminal misconduct related to the renovation project of the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.
Trump’s remarks followed the release of a long-awaited report by the Federal Reserve’s Inspector General, which concluded that there were management shortcomings in the development of two Fed buildings costing $2.5 billion, but ruled out “mismanagement” or grounds for referring the case to criminal authorities, according to the Financial Times, as reported by Arabiya Business.
Trump attacked Powell on his “Truth Social” platform, holding him responsible for the project’s overruns, and said he should be “forced to resign immediately,” adding that if he does not step down, the US government should prosecute him on charges of “either corruption or incompetence.”
The report criticized the Federal Reserve for failing to take measures that could have curbed rising costs, including not establishing a binding price cap with the main contractor. However, it also confirmed that the investigation found no reasonable basis to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred.
The renovation project has been a central focus of Trump’s repeated attacks on Powell. The US president had previously accused the former monetary official of involvement in criminal misconduct related to the modernization work. Trump also visited the project site in July 2025 and publicly criticized Powell in front of the media.
Federal authorities launched a criminal investigation into the case after Trump allies accused Powell of misleading Congress regarding project details. However, the investigation was closed last April under pressure from Republican lawmakers, before the case was referred to the Federal Reserve’s Inspector General to complete the review.
Powell had previously defended himself, arguing that the investigations were used as a pretext to pressure him over interest rate policy, while Trump repeatedly pressured the Federal Reserve to lower borrowing costs.
The report showed that the Fed did not receive an official cost estimate from the contractor until January 2026, more than three years after construction began. It also noted that a guaranteed maximum price for the project had not been set until July of last year.
The report further revealed that some subcontracting work did not undergo sufficient competitive bidding among contractors, and that the governance and oversight structure within the central bank was not suitable for managing a project of such scale and complexity.
The total cost of the project rose from $1.4 billion in February 2020 to $2.5 billion by the end of 2024, with construction costs alone jumping to approximately $2 billion.
For his part, current Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh pledged to implement the report’s recommendations, affirming that the completion of the project would be carried out with the utmost efficiency and transparency. He also announced the involvement of the US General Services Administration to oversee the executive management of the remaining project work.
