When the Justice Department dropped its criminal probe of Jerome Powell in April 2026, it handed the matter to the Federal Reserve's inspector general (see DOJ Drops Criminal Probe of Fed Chair Powell, Clearing the Path to Install Warsh Three Days After His Senate Testimony). The inspector general released its review of the headquarters renovation on September 30. “At no point during our evaluation did we find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred requiring a referral to the U.S. Attorney General,” it says, and “we did not identify administrative misconduct.” It did find serious management failures as the budget grew from $1.317 billion in 2020 to $2.381 billion by December 2024, and made seven recommendations the Board accepted. The review examined the Board's management of the project rather than Powell personally.
Trump answered the same day. “The Building is over budget, at a Record Setting rate and, at a minimum, 'Too Late' Powell should be forced to resign from the Board,” he posted. He said he has “asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to study the report,” and: “If he doesn't resign, he should be sued, at the highest level, by the United States Government, for either corruption or incompetence.” Powell, no longer chair, still sits on the Board of Governors. See also Relentless Attacks on Jerome Powell and Federal Reserve Independence.
Update (October 2, 2026): two days after Trump asked him to study the report, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department will not reopen its criminal investigation. “We're not reopening a criminal investigation into him,” Blanche told Bloomberg News, and a department spokesperson confirmed it to Reuters and CNBC. Blanche did not rule out action if an independent audit finds evidence of wrongdoing: Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said he would hire an independent auditor to “verify accuracy and compliance” for the project's costs, Reuters reported, and Politico reported that the General Services Administration will take over managing the project.