Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte ramped up his attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday, accusing the central banker of lying to Congress and calling for a congressional investigation into his actions.
In an image of an official FHFA press release posted to his personal X account, Pulte called for removing Powell from office due to what the FHFA director alleged was deliberately deceptive Senate testimony regarding renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause,’” Pulte stated in the press release. “Jerome Powell’s $2.5B Building Renovation Scandal stinks to high heaven, and he lied when asked about the specifics before Congress. This is nothing short of malfeasance and is worthy of ‘for cause.’”
A spokesperson for the Fed contacted by Scotsman Guide declined to comment on Pulte’s statement.
Pulte had previously called for Powell’s resignation over the Fed’s decision last month to leave the benchmark federal funds rates unchanged. In a burst of social media posts, Pulte called Powell “reckless” and said he was “hurting the housing market” by not cutting rates.
The ‘Palace of Versailles’
The building project referenced by Pulte is the Fed’s multiyear renovation of three adjacent office buildings. Originally budgeted at $1.9 billion in 2019, the cost estimates have ballooned to $2.5 billion following the start of construction in 2021. Critics of the project have accused the central bank of excessive opulence, with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., likening the Fed’s revamped headquarters to the Palace of Versailles, the lavish royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV of France during the 17th century.
Pulte’s comments echo a recent statement by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who told the New York Post that Powell made inaccurate statements during testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on June 25.
“He made a number of factually inaccurate statements to the committee regarding the Fed’s plush private dining room and elevator, skylights, water features and roof terrace,” Lummis said in the statement. “This is typical of the mismanagement and ‘don’t bother me’ attitude that Chair Powell has always shown.”
Powell’s take
During Powell’s Senate testimony, he said the renovations were prompted by required safety upgrades and waterproofing needs. He also said that media reports about luxurious upgrades were “misleading and inaccurate in many, many respects.”
Powell stated: “There’s no [VIP] dining room, there’s no new marble — we took down the old marble, we’re putting it back up. We’ll have to use new marble where some of the old marble broke, but there are no special elevators. They’re old elevators that have been there. There are no new water features, there’s no beehives and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”
The Fed chair added: “All of the sort of inflammatory things that the media carried are either not in the current plan or just inaccurate. Notwithstanding that, the cost overruns are what they are.”
The final review documents for the office renovations submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission state that “the private dining rooms on Level 4 will be restored, but the prefunction space will be updated.” The plans also state that the “Governors’ private elevator will be extended to discharge at the dining suite level.” Marble is a consistent design feature, but it is unclear how much new marble it entails. The plans include eight water features and discuss “vegetated roof spaces,” but there is no mention of beehives.
During his Senate testimony, Powell admitted he was reluctant to greenlight the renovations because he anticipated having to respond to cost-related questions.
“No one in office wants to do a major renovation of a historic building during their term in office,” Powell said. “You much prefer to leave that to your successors, and this is a great example why.”
