Overview

• The Office of Management and Budget opened a formal investigation on July 11 into the Fed’s $2.5 billion Washington headquarters renovation under Director Russ Vought.
• FHFA Director Bill Pulte has urged Congress to investigate Powell for alleged mismanagement and political bias in overseeing the renovation.
• The Federal Reserve published a detailed FAQs page defending the project’s self-funded model and attributing cost overruns to design changes, environmental remediation and inflation.
• Legal experts say the Federal Reserve Act and recent Supreme Court signals tightly restrict presidential removal of a Fed chair absent clear evidence of misconduct.
• Reports from administration officials indicate that Powell is weighing resignation under mounting political and legal pressure.