Renovations at the Federal Reserve are set to get a high-profile probing today when President Trump and his allies visit the central bank's headquarters after weeks of mounting criticisms over a $2.5 billion renovation.
Trump is set to arrive at 4:00 p.m. ET in a highly unusual presidential visit to the building on the National Mall, less than a mile from the White House.
The construction site tour is just one of numerous political pressure points being put before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell by Trump and his team — even as the latest rhetoric from the president and Treasury Secretary Bessent has downplayed the chances of any imminent attempt to fire the central banker.
"In eight months, he'll be out," Trump noted on Tuesday, with Bessent adding Wednesday in various television appearances that "we're in no rush" to change leadership and that a new chair nominee would be announced in December or January.
In short, Powell's job is looking slightly more secure this week — but the central bank chief's problems clearly aren't going away.
Up first is today's visit from Trump.
The focus there is ongoing construction of the Federal Reserve headquarters amid critiques from newly appointed Trump allies on the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) that could go so far as to seek to stop ongoing construction pending further review.
In addition to Trump, today's tour is expected to include White House deputy chief of staff James Blair (who is also a new member of the NCPC), budget director Russell Vought, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who has emerged as another vocal Powell critic.
Then, in the coming weeks, Powell will wrestle with calls for an "exhaustive internal review" of the Fed's operations and pressure from Republicans on Capitol Hill that could ramp up in the fall.
The Fed got another new headache Thursday when a money manager — and Trump ally who recently served as an adviser to the Department of Government Efficiency — filed a lawsuit arguing the central bank is violating a 1976 federal law by keeping its policy meetings behind closed doors.
There's even a long-shot call for the Department of Justice to get involved and look at Powell personally.
This comes as Powell is set to gather the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next week for another interest rate decision. Markets and many analysts say this is pushing all of Trump's actions as the president continues a daily pressure campaign to press the central banker and his colleagues to cut interest rates.
Up first: A high-profile site tour
Today's tour of the Federal Reserve headquarters is at the behest of Trump allies recently appointed to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC).
Blair, one of Trump's top aides, has leveled a series of attacks on Powell for weeks now over the building cost overruns, even charging at one point, "What do they not want us to see?"
The central bank has repeatedly defended itself against the charges, even publishing a page on its website devoted to the renovations. It says the increased costs came because of increased material costs and "unforeseen conditions" like asbestos, toxic contamination in the soil, and a higher-than-expected water table.
The project costs have grown from around $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion after the Fed submitted designs to the NCPC and received approval from that agency in 2020 and 2021.
The two buildings, Powell added in a recent note, were in need of "significant structural repairs" after not having a comprehensive renovation since they were built in the 1930s.
The changes, argue Trump allies like Vought, could mean the project is out of compliance with the approved plan, leading to a possible standoff as to whether the central bank needs to resubmit to the NCPC.
Powell is clearly looking to avoid that scenario, writing that the bank "does not regard any of these changes as warranting further review." But White House officials are sending a different message.
"We want to see it for ourselves," Blair recently told reporters, adding that he is also looking to obtain "all of the revised plans since 2021."
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte is also expected to join and has already traveled to the site to film a video, as he called the construction costs "very disturbing."
Other key pressure points
This week's site visit comes as Powell is weathering an array of additional pressure points, with many lines of inquiry ongoing from Capitol Hill.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania is a subcommittee chair on the House Financial Services Committee and told Semafor this week that he is weighing a congressional investigation of the Fed — even as his Senate colleagues have shied away from that idea.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, another Trump ally, formally requested that the DOJ investigate Powell for perjury over June comments about the renovations. That is seen as a long shot at best.
Perhaps more pressing is that House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors this week that he is "disenchanted" with Powell and is even open to modifying the 1913 act that created the Fed.
That would be a major change, but it is not expected to be before Congress in the near term, as the House of Representatives went home Wednesday evening for a recess that is scheduled to last for the rest of the summer.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott — who asked Powell about the Fed's renovations during a June 25 hearing — sent Powell a letter Wednesday asking for more questions to be answered by Aug. 8. He said there were "distinct differences" between public plans about the renovation, Powell's testimony, and what the Fed has said on its website.
Treasury Secretary Bessent has also called for an "exhaustive internal review" of the Fed, saying it could be Powell's "legacy," as he accused the central bank of mission creep in its non-monetary policy activities.
Trump has signaled his support for the effort, and some observers say this could be the most consequential change if the idea gains steam and looks to reshape how the central bank operates.
A recent note from Signum Global Advisors called this potentially "an even more holistic reshaping of the Fed than a 'mere' dismissal of Chair Jerome Powell," adding it's an effort that could extend even beyond the end of Powell's chairmanship.