Fed Watchdog: No Crimes in $2.4B Building Renovation, Only Mismanagement

The Federal Reserve's $2.4 billion building renovation project has been marred by mismanagement, but no criminal violations were found by the Fed's internal watchdog.

The Inspector General (IG) report revealed that the Board of Governors and staff failed to secure a comprehensive cost estimate at the beginning of the project, nor did they establish a maximum overall cost. This led to inflated prices after construction began in 2022.

The original estimated cost was $921 million in February 2020, but by December 2024, it had more than doubled to $2.018 billion. The project's completion date has been pushed back from mid-2024 to December 2027.

Former Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who remains on the board until January 2028, was criticized for his management of the project by the Trump administration and Republican members of Congress. President Donald Trump even visited the construction site last July, where he made an estimate of the project's expected costs that was corrected by Powell.