Overview
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., has issued subpoenas compelling the Federal Reserve to provide documents to a grand jury reviewing whether Jerome Powell misled Congress about the Fed’s Washington renovation.
- The project began in 2022 with an initial $2.5 billion budget and reported overruns of roughly $600–700 million, while Powell has rejected accounts of lavish features as inaccurate.
- Powell called the case a politicized “pretext,” asserted that rate decisions follow economic data rather than presidential preferences, and retained outside counsel at Williams & Connolly.
- President Donald Trump said he had no knowledge of the probe even as he continued to criticize Powell, and reporting attributes approval of the inquiry in November to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
- Gold and silver hit record highs and early equity trading softened, as former Fed chairs and ex–Treasury secretaries warned the move endangers central-bank autonomy, and Republican Senator Thom Tillis signaled he may oppose Fed confirmations with Powell’s term ending in May.