Hassett says White House probing Fed renovation costs, authority to fire Powell

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cause if evidence supports that, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday and that the Fed "has a lot to answer for" on renovation cost overruns at its Washington headquarters.

Hassett told ABC's "This Week" program that any decision by Trump to try to fire Powell over what the Trump administration calls a $700 million cost overrun "is going to depend a lot on the answers that we get to the questions that Russ Vought sent to the Fed."

Vought, the White House budget director, last week slammed Powell over an "ostentatious overhaul" of the Fed's buildings and answers to a series of questions about the $2.5 billion project. In a posting on X, he compared the project to France's Palace of Versailles, with rooftop gardens, water features and "premium marble."

Hassett's comments confirm that the Trump administration is actively exploring the renovation costs and Powell's testimony about the project as a possible avenue to try to fire the Fed chief well before his term as chair ends in May 2026.

Trump has repeatedly called for Powell's resignation for failing to lower interest rates since Trump returned to office in January.

Vice President JD Vance piled on more criticism in a post on X on Sunday: "Fed has been totally asleep at the wheel. As President Trump says, they're TOO LATE - both in fighting inflation during Biden and in lower rates now."

Asked if Trump had the authority to fire Powell, Hassett, whose name has emerged as a potential candidate to take over the Fed chair job, said: "That's a thing that's being looked into, but certainly if there's cause, he does."

Republican Representative French Hill, who chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, said Trump did not have the authority to fire the Fed chair, but Congress would continue to provide strong oversight of the central bank.

"Just because Congress created the Fed and that we believe that it should be independent in the setting of monetary policy, it doesn't mean that it's immune from criticism," Hill told CBS' Face the Nation. "Every president since World War Two has had choice words for the Fed chair when they've not been in sync with the direction of the president."