President Donald Trump floated filing a lawsuit alleging “gross incompetence” against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over the costs associated with renovating the Fed headquarters.
Trump renewed his feud with Powell on Monday, this time directing his complaints against the project. “They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re way over budget,” Trump bemoaned.
He then sprinkled his previous criticisms of Powell in, blaming the construction costs and delays specifically on him.
“We’re thinking about bringing a suit against Powell for incompetence because think of it: These are two. These are outstanding buildings. These are small buildings. He said, ‘$4 billion more.’ It’s going to end up costing more than $4 billion — $4 billion! It’s the highest price of construction … per square foot in the history of the world,” Trump said.
“Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price,” he added.
The problems had grown so severe that Trump said his administration would file a lawsuit for gross incompetence in response.
“So we’re thinking about bringing a a gross incompetence, what’s called gross incompetence lawsuit. It’s gross incompetence against Powell, and it was his baby, and the guy’s just incompetent. There is nothing you can do about it. He’s just a very incompetent man, but we’re going to probably bring a lawsuit against him,” the president said.
POLL FINDS EVERY MAJOR POLITICAL FIGURE UNDERWATER IN APPROVAL
Powell was one of the most consistent targets of Trump during his first year in office, with the president constantly savaging him for not cutting interest rates. Despite a variety of threats, Trump has refrained from concrete actions against him.
Despite Trump’s attacks, Powell remains moderately popular among the general population. A December Gallup poll gave him the highest approval rating of any national figure, albeit at only 44%.
