Overview

• President Trump said he would allow a “major lawsuit” against Fed Chair Jerome Powell over an alleged $3.1 billion overrun on the central bank’s Washington renovation.
• White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the administration is considering legal action as a lever to compel immediate interest-rate reductions.
• Fed officials defended a $2.5 billion cost estimate for the project and stressed that policy decisions will remain based solely on economic data and insulated from political pressure.
• Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned against premature rate cuts, even as investors increasingly price in a quarter-point easing at the Fed’s September meeting.
• The Treasury, under Scott Bessent’s coordination, is vetting an expanded list of potential Powell successors to shape the central bank’s policy direction.