Fed posts video tour, renovation details as White House intensifies attacks

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By Ann Saphir

(Reuters) -The Federal Reserve on Monday added a video tour and new details about the renovation of two historical buildings at its headquarters in Washington, as the Trump administration ramps up attacks on U.S. central bank chief Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates and criticizes the project’s cost and design.

The six-minute, 23-second video indicates it was recorded on July 18 and depicts construction scenes overlaid with text descriptions of the project and some of the challenges encountered, such as asbestos abatement and preservation of details like a long-disused skylight with a decorative eagle. It shows the installation of infrastructure like blast-protected windows and modern heating, plumbing and electrical systems.

The White House is continuing its reviews of the Fed building project and officials hope to schedule a visit this week, a White House official said on Monday.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, one of three administration officials newly appointed to the National Capital Planning Commission, told reporters last week that officials from the White House and Office of Management and Budget as well as several lawmakers want to visit the facility during the day.

The Fed also posted fresh materials detailing aspects of the project that drew particular White House criticism as lavish, including what NCPC planning documents describe as a “Governors’ private elevator” leading to “executive dining rooms.”

“The descriptive labels are not representative of our previous or planned use of these spaces,” the Fed’s new materials said, noting that the elevator’s use is not limited to governors, and the rooms at issue are multi-use and not part of a “dining suite” as the plans describe.

The U.S. central bank also posted diagrams with big red X marks showing where planned water features on the campus grounds had been eliminated, saving costs.

An added section to the Frequently Asked Questions part of the materials described the buildings’ heritage, including their use as a planning site for the Manhattan Project atomic weapons program during World War II, complete with a 24-hour guard by sharpshooters.

The Fed is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range at a two-day policy meeting next week. Powell and most of his colleagues say that while inflation has cooled, they expect President Donald Trump’s import tariffs to result in higher prices in coming months and consider that a rate cut now could help to reignite inflation.

The Fed reduced borrowing costs three times in the last four months of 2024 but has left its policy rate unchanged since December.

Trump has repeatedly berated Powell and said he should lower rates immediately. The president, who appointed Powell to lead the central bank during his first term in the White House, has said he wants the Fed chief gone and has threatened to fire him several times. Powell’s term as head of the central bank runs until May 15.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who Trump has said would be a good candidate to replace Powell, on Monday said the Fed has been “fear-mongering over tariffs” and needs to be examined as an institution.

Republican U.S. Representative and Trump ally Anna Paulina Luna has referred Powell to the Justice Department for investigation, Fox News reported on Monday.

A Fed spokesperson had no comment.

(Reporting by Dan Burns and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)