President Donald Trump is weighing the possibility of taking legal action against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over how he has overseen renovation work at the Fed’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
The idea of a lawsuit, first hinted at in a post by Trump on his social media platform, marks an escalation in the president’s ongoing campaign to push Powell toward cutting interest rates.
A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve declined to offer any comment on the matter.
White House officials have said they are scrutinizing the renovations of two historic Fed buildings, alleging that lax oversight and possible fraud have inflated costs and that the project has become unnecessarily lavish.
Trump toured the renovation site a few weeks ago, using the visit to again criticize the project while also meeting with Powell to press his argument for lowering rates.
According to Federal Reserve records, the original cost projection of $1.9 billion has now risen to $2.4 billion. The Fed attributes the increase primarily to higher labor and materials prices, along with unforeseen issues such as asbestos removal.
A Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in an unrelated case involving other independent federal agencies affirmed that the Fed occupies a unique position under the law, which does not permit a president to remove its chair over policy disagreements.
Trump’s complete statement on Truth Social read: “Jerome “Too Late” Powell must NOW lower the rate. Steve “Manouychin” really gave me a “beauty” when he pushed this loser. The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board. I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings. Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”
{Matzav.com}
“along with unforeseen issues such as asbestos removal.”
In what way is asbestos removal (or any other contaminant remediation) an unforeseen issue on a federal project of this scale?
That is an absurd claim on it’s face. Anyone who is bidding on a project to renovate a building built anytime from the late 1940s to the late 80s should have enough experience to know that asbestos remediation is a high likelihood.
There are plenty of other environmental factors that come up on these projects that should always be budgeted for such as lead paint and improperly abandoned oil tanks.
“A Supreme Court ruling earlier this year in an unrelated case involving other independent federal agencies affirmed that the Fed occupies a unique position under the law, which does not permit a president to remove its chair over policy disagreements.”
If I recall correctly, that ruling (Trump v Wilcox) does not bar a president from removing a Fed chair over policy disagreements.
What it does do, is differentiate from it’s ruling and say that the ruling is specifically avoiding the question of the Fed.
If a president were to try to remove a Fed chair, then the Supreme Court might be asked the question and would consider it on the merits at that point.
We’ve been hearing AD NAUSEUM how Powell LIED TO CONGRESS, went egregiously WAY OVER BUDGET on renovations and has obviously refused to lower interest rates based on selfish political bias. TRUMP, SACK THE GUY ALREADY ( THE SUPREMES can deal with any legal repercussions) OR INDICT HIM FOR PERJURY OR AT LEAST STOP TALKInG AND SUE HIM. This is why people are SICK OF GOVERNMENT and don’t trust it, even under our great Pres TRUMP. Either put up or shut up, BUT stop jabbering away constantly while doing nothing.