Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell has rebutted the Trump administration’s accusations that he misled Congress over a $2.5bn refurbishment of the central bank’s headquarters, saying it did not inform government planners of changes to the project because they were not “substantial” enough to warrant it.
The White House last week opened a new line of attack against Powell, after Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, accused the Fed chair of “grossly” mismanaging an “ostentatious” refurbishment of the Fed’s headquarters.
Vought also claimed Powell had either misled Congress or failed to inform the National Capital Planning Commission of changes that the Fed chair said the central bank had made in order to rein in spending on a project that is now $700mn over budget.