Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is facing accusations of lying under oath to Congress last week after denying the central bank’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation would include lavish amenities like private dining rooms and special elevators, despite planning documents revealing precisely those features.
Government planning documents reviewed by the Senate Banking Committee, first revealed by the New York Post, directly contradict Powell’s claims, specifically mentioning “private dining rooms” and a “Governors’ private elevator,” as well as “vegetated roof terraces” for “urban wildlife and pollinators.”
“There’s no VIP dining room, there’s no new marble. There are no special elevators,” Powell claimed under oath on Wednesday. “There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”
Powell’s testimony directly contradicts government planning documents that have not been revised since their approval in 2021.
“The private dining rooms on Level 4 (of the Fed’s Eccles building) will be restored,” reads one excerpt from the filing with the National Capital Planning Commission. “The Governors’ private elevator will be extended to discharge at the dining suite level.”
According to the Post, the filing also explicitly mentions “vegetated roof terraces” featuring “urban wildlife and pollinators” in addition to new marble and water features.
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, branded the renovations “luxury upgrades that feel more like they belong in the Palace of Versailles.”
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Powell dismissed the price tag for the revamp, which exceeded the original estimate of $1.9 billion by 30%, saying in Wednesday’s hearing that “the cost overruns are what they are.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a majority member of the committee, said Powell “was clearly not prepared for his testimony, and should be embarrassed.”
“He made a number of factually inaccurate statements to the Committee regarding the Fed’s plush private dining room and elevator, skylights, water features, and roof terrace,” Lummis told the Post. “This is typical of the mismanagement and ‘don’t bother me’ attitude that Chair Powell has always shown.”
Andrew T. Levin, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College who served as an economist and advisor to the Fed’s board for 20 years, called for congressional action, slamming Powell in a statement to the Post.
“A top Fed official cannot be permitted to make false statements under oath at a congressional hearing. Such statements must be promptly corrected, and in egregious cases, subject to censure by the Senate,” Levin said.
Former Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk previously called the news about the Fed’s headquarters revamp “an eyebrow raiser” and suggested the department should investigate the spending.
The controversy arises as the Fed grapples with mounting financial losses totaling $233 billion over the past three years, including a record $114.6 billion loss in 2023 — the first time in its history that the central bank has operated in the red.
Powell, whose term as Fed Chair ends in May 2026 unless renominated by President Trump, is facing scathing criticism from the president over the central bank’s refusal to cut interest rates, adding to the mounting pressure on the embattled Fed Chair.