Fed mismanagement led to headquarters renovation cost overruns, but no one violated federal criminal law

PANews reported on October 1, citing Xinhua News Agency, that the U.S. Federal Reserve's internal watchdog released a report on September 30 saying the Fed failed to effectively oversee its headquarters renovation project, causing the project to significantly exceed its budget, but no one violated federal criminal law in the renovation project.

According to disclosures by The Washington Post and the Financial Times, the Fed's Board of Governors approved a $1.3 billion budget for the headquarters renovation project in 2020. As of December 2024, the project's budget had soared to $2.4 billion, with the construction budget alone rising from $921 million to $2 billion. Reasons for the sharp budget increase include inflation, inadequate competitive bidding, and design changes. The report said the project had "management deficiencies," and that the Fed's Board of Governors failed to adopt "multiple available measures" to better control costs, but that there was no "administrative misconduct."