No. of Recommendations: 2
This is simply not a big deal at all, assuming Powell is "clean."
Even Powell himself, for reasons unknown, hasn't said there is no basis for the DOJ investigation.
Which is very, very strange.
What Powell actually said/implied was that this was a purely political attack on the independence of the Fed.
The Fed is and remains accountable for how it spends the public's money, just like any other Federal agency.
It would have been nice if Powell had acknowledge that obligation.
It would have been nice if Powell had come right out and point blank said that the construction project that the Fed is being investigated for is faultless and the investigation will give the Fed and Powell a completely clean bill of health.
Let's agree Trump sucks.
"Trump sucks" is not a defense for Powell or the Fed if it turns out they didn't manage this project correctly.
I'm assuming that Powell himself doesn't actually manage this stuff, someone from the GSA probably does, but apparently as Fed Chair, he has overall responsibility for it.
Evidently there was a $700 million cost overrun on the project. That's not itself alarming, I imagine these kinds of projects frequently have cost overruns just like when you renovate your kitchen and it ends up costing 3x the initial estimate.
It would have been nice if Powell had addressed this in his whiny little speech the other day.
