Fed Takes Fresh Steps to Defend Renovations as White House Intensifies Attacks
The central bank on Monday published a virtual tour of the active construction site, including footage of asbestos caulking being removed and the blast resistant windows being installed. The Fed, which has said that it has scaled back its initial plans, highlighted changes made to a 2021 proposal submitted to a little-known planning board.
The Fed's renovation has become central to the administration's attempts to undermine and potentially oust Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the central bank.
The White House has fixated on the project's cost overruns, as well as what it described as luxury features included in the initial plan submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission. Those had included new water fountains and a roof terrace for staff, neither of which are part of the latest proposal. The Fed has also clarified that its headquarters will not have a V.I.P. dining room or private elevators, both of which had previously garnered criticism from the White House.
Top administration officials, including James Blair, the White House's deputy chief of staff, have demanded a tour of the construction site. On Friday, Mr. Blair, newly appointed to the National Capital Planning Commission, rejected an offer by the Fed to visit at 7 p.m. that evening and said he did not want to see the site after-hours. 'We want to see what's going on,' he told reporters. 'We want to see what the construction is like.'
Mr. Blair has referred to the Fed's headquarters as the 'Taj Mahal on the National Mall.' He also has gone after Mr. Powell directly, posting a meme on social media of the central bank chair dressed as Marie Antoinette that read, 'Let them eat basis points.'
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