Justice Dept to Close Investigation of Federal Reserve Renovations, US Attorney Pirro Says

The Justice Department is closing its investigation into cost overruns in renovations at the Federal Reserve under Chairman Jerome Powell, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Friday.

Pirro said the inspector general of the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs.

“The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers,” Pirro wrote in a post on X. “I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas.”

Pirro added that while she directed her office to close the investigation, she would “not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

Pirro’s office opened the investigation in November at President Donald Trump’s bidding, reviewing whether Powell lied to a Senate committee about cost overruns for the construction of the new Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C. The cost of construction had increased to $2.5 billion.

Deputies with Pirro’s office visited the Fed construction site last week but were denied entry without preclearance, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Powell has called the probe a pretext for Trump to pressure the Fed into cutting interest rates. He is serving as Fed chair until May, when his term expires. 

Trump has appointed Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell, but one key member of the Senate Banking Committee, North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, said he would not support Warsh’s confirmation while Powell’s investigation was open.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell contributed to this report.