White House Seeks to Inspect Fed Renovation in Bid to Pressure Powell

The Trump administration is pushing to conduct an on-site inspection of the Federal Reserve as President Trump and his top aides continue to pressure Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, to lower interest rates or resign.

Russell T. Vought, the White House budget director, told reporters on Thursday that administration officials wanted to visit the Fed to observe the renovations at its Washington headquarters. The administration has asserted that Mr. Powell has mismanaged the project, resulting in a cost overrun, and it has demanded that he provide answers about the project to the Office of Management and Budget.

Mr. Trump has made clear that he is scrutinizing Mr. Powell because of the Fed’s approach to interest rates. The central bank has left borrowing costs unchanged for months as it looks to ensure that the president’s policies, particularly his steep and expanding global tariffs, do not cause inflation to worsen.

Hoping to pressure Mr. Powell into reducing rates, Mr. Trump has privately discussed firing him before his term expires in May 2026. On Tuesday night, Mr. Trump showed House Republicans a draft of a letter firing Mr. Powell and asked lawmakers if he should send it.

But the president may face significant legal obstacles if he proceeds. The Fed is independent of the White House, and a recent Supreme Court decision underscored the limited ability of the president to fire the Fed chair.

The primary grounds on which Mr. Trump could legally remove Mr. Powell would be if the chair engaged in some sort of egregious behavior, a standard that many experts say the White House has not met.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he would dismiss Mr. Powell “unless he has to leave for fraud,” seizing on the Fed’s revamp, which is expected to cost $2.5 billion.

“It’s possible there’s fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation,” Mr. Trump said.

On Thursday, Mr. Vought reiterated that view, telling reporters that he and other aides to the president would look to join Republican lawmakers in trying to inspect the Fed renovations in person.

“I think the president was pretty clear yesterday: He’s unlikely to fire the chairman, but he has substantial concerns with regard to how he’s managed the Fed,” Mr. Vought said, adding they were “trying to get a site visit and go over there.”

The budget chief said he was working in conjunction with the National Capital Planning Commission, which is responsible for reviewing the Fed’s renovation plan, to investigate the matter. The White House, which sent a set of detailed questions to Mr. Powell last week about the revamp, recently designated a set of allies to lead the planning board.

Mr. Vought also indicated the tour may include William J. Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who has emerged as one of the more outspoken critics of the Fed. Mr. Pulte is believed to have written a draft letter calling for Mr. Powell’s dismissal, which Mr. Trump showed to Republican lawmakers at a meeting this week.

Mr. Trump also pressed ahead on Thursday with his own attack on the Fed. Seizing on new figures that showed a dip in applications in jobless benefits last week, the president once again demanded that the central bank lower borrowing costs, reviving a moniker he often uses for Mr. Powell.

“‘Too Late:’ Great numbers just out,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “LOWER THE RATE!!! DJT.”

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