Hassett tells Powell to leave Fed board after review finds management failures, no crime
The call comes days after the Justice Department said it would not pursue a criminal probe into the $2.4bn headquarters renovation.
Published
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Jerome Powell should leave the Federal Reserve Board after a watchdog review of the central bank's $2.4bn headquarters renovation found management failures but no criminal wrongdoing.
The review followed months of scrutiny over cost overruns on the project. Attorney General Todd Blanche said this week the Justice Department would not reopen a criminal investigation into Powell over the renovation, closing off the legal track that had fed speculation about his position.
Hassett's comments mark a shift from his earlier stance. He had previously said it was Powell's own decision whether to stay on as Fed chair, and separately noted that if Kevin Warsh were to take on a role at the Fed, he would have to work alongside Powell, calling that an unusual arrangement.
With the criminal route now closed, Hassett's renewed push for Powell to go looks less like a new mechanism for removing him and more like continued political pressure ahead of the question of who succeeds him.