An aging office complex stands at the center of one of the most consequential political battles of the moment. The drama surrounds President Donald Trump’s desire to oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ahead of his term’s conclusion in May 2026, a shakeup Trump has been calling for publicly for months in the face of Powell’s unwillingness to lower interest rates. As the head of an independent federal body, Powell’s job is not legally within the president’s power to touch, unless it can be proven that the chairperson has engaged in abusive or fraudulent behavior. In that case Powell could be fired for cause.

That’s why a spotlight has suddenly been placed on a 1930s-era office complex. The buildings in question are the Marriner S. Eccles building and 1951 Constitution Avenue, two adjacent buildings on the National Mall that are part of the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Federal Reserve Board, which Powell oversees. The buildings have been undergoing a major renovation project in recent years, with an estimated cost of $2.5 billion. Trump and members of his administration have zeroed in on the cost of the project (which has risen since it was first proposed in 2017), claiming there are luxurious and unnecessary parts of the design that prove Powell is mismanaging the Fed.

The Trump administration is now undertaking a kind of retroactive design review, and making a case that the renovation’s scope has spiraled beyond the public interest, and that Powell should be held accountable. Powell maintains that the project is in compliance with all laws and standards. The renovation stands in the middle, and the future of U.S. monetary policy is at stake.

Trump wants Powell out, and the Fed’s renovation project is a potential avenue to achieve that goal. In a July 10 letter to Powell, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, called the project an “ostentatious overhaul.” He wrote that the White House has “serious concerns” with the scope of the renovation, citing specific elements, including private dining rooms, rooftop garden terraces, water features, marble decor, and a private elevator.

A week later, Powell responded to Vought with his own letter outlining the reasons for the renovation’s high cost, noting that the buildings in question have not undergone comprehensive renovations since they were built........

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