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Trump appointees pushed for marble in Fed renovation project

By Ann Saphir

(Reuters) -President Donald Trump's appointees to a Washington project review board pushed the Federal Reserve five years ago to use more marble for a renovation project at its headquarters campus that the White House is now using as the basis for attacks on central bank Chair Jerome Powell, saying cost overruns and "ostentatious" features like the premium marble the Fed incorporated into its final design are evidence of mismanagement by the Fed chief.

Documents from the Commission of Fine Arts, established by Congress in 1910 to review and approve certain building projects in the nation's capital, show the Fed proposed a glass curtain wall for part of the project. Such a design was in line with the Fed's view that the central bank "should become a more transparent organization," according to minutes from a January 2020 CFA meeting.

The proposal met stiff opposition from commissioners appointed by Trump, who issued an executive order later that year calling for the use of classical architecture for public buildings in the capital "absent exceptional factors." He reissued that same order on the first day of his current term in office.

At the January CFA meeting, Commissioner Justin Shubow argued that glass is "impermanent and fragile," and said the Fed's headquarters ought to look solid and permanent as befitting a bank building. Shubow joined fellow Trump appointees in supporting a proposal that the Fed's next submission include a design in "white Georgia marble."

The non-Trump appointees voted that plan down, but six months later the Fed's architects returned with a new proposal that did include that marble, the commission's documents show. The renovation plan was finalized in 2021.

The push by the Trump appointees for use of the marble was first reported by the Associated Press.

Trump has lashed out at Powell almost daily over the fact the Fed has not delivered the lower interest rates Trump has demanded since his return to the White House in January. Earlier this week he discussed firing Powell with a group of House Republicans during a meeting at the White House, but after it was reported that Trump was preparing to do so he reversed course and said it was "highly unlikely" he would fire the Fed chief.

The Federal Reserve Act prohibits firing Fed Board of Governors members over policy disputes, saying they may only be removed for "cause" - widely thought to mean malfeasance, neglect of duty or fraud. A recent Supreme Court opinion in a case involving Trump's dismissal of other federal officials sent a strong signal the high court would not allow to stand a firing of Powell for refusing to cut rates.

In the weeks since, White House officials have begun to focus on the cost overruns at the Fed's headquarters project. Documents show it is about $600 million over its original cost estimate of about $1.8 billion. In a move that would seem to try to lay the groundwork for a causal dismissal, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought last week sent Powell a letter, accusing him of mismanagement and demanding answers to a list of questions about the project.

Powell on Thursday responded, saying "As explained on the Board's public website, we take seriously the responsibility to be good stewards of public resources as we fulfill the duties given to us by Congress on behalf of the American people."

"We have taken great care to ensure the project is carefully overseen since it was first approved by the Board in 2017," he said.