Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Federalreserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
While President Donald Trump — wanting lower interest rates — continues to threaten the removal of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who he appointed in 2018 during his first term in the White House, the President’s director of Federal Housing FHFA, William Pulte, is also voicing discontent with Powell.
On social media, Pulte wrote: “Jerome Powell spent more money on his office renovations $2.5B than it took the Dallas Cowboys to build an entire stadium. Why is nobody talking about this?”
Note: The Cowboys’ stadium was built in 2009 and cost approximately $1.3 billion, or approximately $1.9 billion in 2024 dollars.
Jerome Powell spent more money on his office renovations $2.5B than it took the Dallas Cowboys to build an entire stadium. Why is nobody talking about this?
— Pulte (@pulte) July 16, 2025
Many responded by calling Pulte’s claim “misleading,” as Powell isn’t spending $2.5 billion on his personal office but rather the restoration of two historical buildings including the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building, which has not been comprehensively renovated since it was built in 1937. (The other is the 1951 Constitution Avenue Building, which was built in 1932 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)
The renovation project, which was approved by the Board of Governors during the first Trump administration in 2017, is expected to reduce costs for the Fed when it’s completed and over time as the Fed Reserve Board has needed to lease space in several commercial office buildings to support its operations.
Trump’s OMB Director, Russ Vought, also brought up the renovations on Fox News. He said: “We intend to do a site visit hopefully next week, and we want answers to our questions…@POTUS is a builder — he finds it exasperating, the extent to which this building is so expensive.”
.@WHOMB Director @russvought on the $2.5B "renovation" at the Fed: "We intend to do a site visit hopefully next week, and we want answers to our questions… @POTUS is a builder — he finds it exasperating, the extent to which this building is so expensive." pic.twitter.com/ZiPq3JyjvO
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 17, 2025
And Trump himself has called out the Fed’s project, lamenting its cost and timeframe, saying broadly that “when you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation, I think it’s really disgraceful.” (It’s a statement critics may remember if Trump goes forward with renovating Alcatraz for use as a prison, as some recent cost estimates for the project top $2 billion.)
Powell responded to the criticism on Thursday in a detailed letter to Vought, which is notably careful not to imply that Trump’s team is targeting the renovations as a way to discredit the Fed to achieve political advantage in the interest rate battle.
Instead, Powell addressed the renovation plan directly, saying “the project is proceeding in accordance with the plan that the NCPC approved in September 2021” and echoing a FAQ that is already up at the Federal Reserve Board of Directors website. (The FAQ emphasizes that the plans do not include VIP elevators or a VIP dining room.)
The buildings, Powell reiterated, required “significant structural repairs and other updates” which included removal of asbestos and lead contamination, complete replacement of antiquated systems such as electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, as well as fire detection and -2- suppression systems.”