Jerome Powell, the 16th Chair for the U.S. Federal Reserve, during a moderated conversation at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Monday, March 30, 2026.
Mel Musto | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Department of Justice will not reopen its criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the central bank’s overbudget multibillion-dollar headquarters renovation a department spokesperson told CNBC.
“We’re not reopening a criminal investigation into him,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told Bloomberg in an interview Friday.
Blanche did not rule out separate Justice Department action related to the renovation in his interview. He told the outlet the independent audit of the renovation could prompt an investigation if it uncovers evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
His comments come days after the Federal Reserve’s inspector general found no reasonable grounds to believe that a federal crime had occurred requiring a referral to the attorney general, even as the watchdog faulted the central bank for major management and oversight failures that contributed to the project’s soaring costs.
President Donald Trump slammed the decision, said in a Truth Social post Wednesday after the news, saying that Powell should be “forced to resign” from the central bank’s Board of Governors “at a minimum.”
“He can’t manage a Building, and he certainly shouldn’t be allowed to manage his High Interest Rate Policy (only on ‘TRUMP!’),” Trump said.
The Justice Department opened its investigation into the renovation in January. Prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas seeking related records but a federal judge quashed those subpoenas in March, finding they had been issued for an improper purpose and that the government had produced essentially no evidence that Powell committed a crime. The DOJ disputed the ruling but later closed its investigation rather than appeal.
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, who succeeded Powell in May, said the central bank would bring in an independent auditor and strengthen oversight of the project. Powell remains on the Fed’s Board of Governors, where his separate term runs through Jan. 31, 2028.
Trump has repeatedly pushed Powell to leave the board altogether after years of clashes over interest-rate policy.
CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this report.
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