Overview

• Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought delivered a list of questions to Powell with a response deadline later this week to probe alleged mismanagement of the Fed’s $2.5 billion headquarters project
• The Federal Reserve published an updated FAQ to rebut claims of VIP dining rooms and marble finishes while attributing cost increases to design revisions, asbestos removal and other unforeseen issues
• Jerome Powell asked the Fed’s inspector general to review the renovation’s $700 million budget overrun, signaling an institutional defense against White House attacks
• Recent Supreme Court rulings reinforce that the president can only remove a Fed chair for clear misconduct, raising the legal bar for any dismissal attempt
• Market participants and lawmakers from both parties caution that any effort to oust Powell could erode central bank independence and unsettle global financial markets