Trump aides will visit the Fed's renovation site in an escalating fight against Jerome Powell
Trump also mulled a new tax break to provide relief on housing prices, though it was unclear how it would be structured
White House advisor James Blair (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images).
White House aides have scheduled a Thursday visit to the Federal Reserve renovation site, part of an escalating campaign against Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his management of the $2.5 billion project.
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President Donald Trump's senior aides including James Blair have pushed for a trip over the past week. Blair said that the White House had turned down an earlier offer from Fed officials to visit last Friday at 7pm, but in a social media post he said the Fed has since "relented" for a Thursday visit.
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Federal Reserve spokesperson declined to comment.
Trump on Tuesday poured cold water on the idea of firing Powell, though he trashed him again over the cost of borrowing and suggested it should be at 1%. He argued that Powell has paved the way for the U.S. government to overpay its interest on the national debt by keeping interest rates elevated compared to other central banks.
"I think he's done a bad job, but he's going to be out pretty soon," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "Eight months, he'll be out."
Interest rates currently range between 4.25% and 4.5%. A lower interest rate usually stimulates economic activity by encouraging consumers and businesses to borrow cheaply.
Trump also mulled a new tax break to provide relief on housing prices, though it was unclear how it would be structured. "We are thinking about no tax on capital gains on houses," the president said.
This month, the Trump administration has latched onto the ongoing Fed upgrades to its Washington headquarters to allege Powell has bungled the project and build a case to fire him. Powell has since requested that the Fed's inspector general review the project, which has been overseen by the Fed's Board of Governors.
The Federal Reserve has taken steps to defend its handling of the renovation project, including public responses to White House inquiries. On Monday, it published a video of the construction site in a Q&A page that showed the installation of blast-resistant windows among other upgrades being made to its century-old headquarters.