By Dan Mangan
President Donald Trump’s budget chief on Thursday said that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “has grossly mismanaged the Fed” and suggested he had misled Congress about a pricey and “ostentatious” renovation of the central bank’s headquarters.
The broadside by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought opened up a new front in Trump’s war of words against Powell.
Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed chairman to cut interest rates, without success. He reportedly has considered firing Powell and, more recently, publicly naming the chairman’s replacement months earlier than the end of Powell’s term next spring.
“While continuing to run a deficit since FY23 (the first time in the Fed’s history), the Fed is way over budget on the renovation of its headquarters,” Vought wrote in a post on the social media site X.
“Now up to $2.5 billion, roughly $700 million over its initial cost,” Vought wrote. “The cost per square foot is $1,923–double the cost for renovating an ordinary historic federal building. The Palace of Versailles would have cost $3 billion in today’s dollars!”
Chairman Jerome Powell has grossly mismanaged the Fed.
While continuing to run a deficit since FY23 (the first time in the Fed’s history), the Fed is way over budget on the renovation of its headquarters.
Now up to $2.5 billion, roughly $700 million over its initial cost.… pic.twitter.com/lHK4cWlAvf
— Russ Vought (@russvought) July 10, 2025
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