Sept 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump began publicly attacking Jerome Powell -- and privately musing about firing him -- just months after Trump elevated Powell in 2018 to the top job at the US central bank. Trump was unhappy that Powell did not deliver the interest-rate cuts the president felt were called for.
But it wasn't until 2025, soon after Trump began his second term in the White House, that the president and key members of his administration zeroed in on cost overruns for renovations
of the Fed's Washington headquarters as a focal point for efforts to oust Powell, or at least to pressure him into easier monetary policy.
Those efforts were unsuccessful. Indeed, Powell broke with decades of tradition by remaining on the Board as governor even after his term as Fed chair ended in May precisely because he felt that the administration's attacks on him threatened the Fed's independence and its ability to fight inflation effectively.
Here is a brief timeline of the renovations, the allegations, the investigations, and the political fallout as it unfolded:
2017-2022
Fed Board approves the initial budget for renovations on the Eccles Building, constructed between 1935 and 1937 as the Fed's headquarters, and the 1951 Constitution Avenue Building, built in 1932 and on the National Register of Historic Places. Both buildings are on the National Mall. The Fed's Inspector General conducts audits in 2021 and 2022, and the Fed indicates it has complied with the watchdog's recommendations on project management.
APRIL 2025
News reports surface about the spiraling cost of "ornate" renovations to the Fed's headquarters. The Fed Board's most recent budget, dated December 17, 2024, shows an estimated cost of $2.46 billion, up from $1.88 billion in the previous budget. Elon Musk, then head of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, calls for an investigation.
JUNE 2025
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott questions Powell about the "lavish" renovations at a hearing on monetary policy. Powell says the buildings were old and had safety issues, and refutes media reports of luxury upgrades.
JULY 2025
Trump is "extremely troubled" by the cost overruns, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought tells Powell in a letter. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren calls the complaints a "clear pretext to fire Fed Chair Powell." In extensive public FAQs on the renovations and in letters to Scott and Vought's criticisms, Powell attributes most of the rising costs for material and labor to the post-pandemic surge in inflation. Also contributing, the Fed says, were design changes mandated by the national planning commission and unanticipated costs including handling of asbestos. Trump visits the construction site and says he would fire any project manager with cost overruns of a similar scale. Powell asks the Fed Board's Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, to take a fresh look at the project's cost.
AUGUST 2025
Trump considers filing a lawsuit against Powell over the renovations, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt says.
JANUARY 2026
In a highly unusual Sunday evening video statement, Powell says the Fed received grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice that threaten criminal indictment related to the renovations. Powell calls the probe unprecedented intimidation. Republican Senator Thom Tillis says Fed independence is at stake and vows to block Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as Powell's successor until it is resolved.
MARCH 2026
Chief US District Judge James Boasberg blocks the subpoenas, agreeing with Powell that they were issued for the improper purpose of pressuring Powell to rapidly lower interest rates or resign.
APRIL 2026
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro says the DOJ is closing its investigation into the Fed's cost overruns. Tillis allows the Warsh Fed chair nomination to proceed. Powell announces his plans to stay on at the Fed after his term as chair ends in May "until this investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality." The DOJ assures Powell it will not reopen the probe unless there is a criminal referral from the Fed's Inspector General.
MAY 2026
Warsh becomes Fed chairman. Powell remains on the Fed Board, taking part in private deliberations on monetary policy and voting on interest rates but keeping a low profile and out of the public eye.
SEPTEMBER 2026
Fed's Inspector General issues a report finding "deficiencies" in the Fed Board's oversight of the project, but no misconduct or grounds for a criminal referral.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Andrea Ricci )
