Overview
- The Justice Department is probing cost overruns tied to a $2.5 billion renovation at the Fed’s headquarters, which Powell disclosed and denied, with a recent letter to senators reported to contradict claims he misled Congress.
- Trump said he is leaning toward Kevin Warsh or Kevin Hassett for the next Fed chair and expects to announce a choice within the next couple of weeks, while ruling out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
- Powell’s term as chair runs through May, and he can remain on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until 2028.
- Senior Republican senators, foreign officials, investors and former U.S. policymakers have warned the investigation risks politicizing the central bank’s decisions.
- Trump dismissed concerns about central-bank independence, saying “I don’t care” and that officials “should be loyal,” as prediction-market pricing assigns a 44% chance he tries to remove Powell before 2027.