Jerome Powell, 16th Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, during a moderated conversation at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Monday, March 30, 2026.Mel Musto | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Justice Department will not reopen its criminal investigation into former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the overbudgeted, multibillion-dollar renovation of the central bank’s headquarters, a department spokesperson told CNBC. “We will not reopen a criminal investigation into him,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told Bloomberg in an interview on Friday. Blanche did not rule out separate Justice Department action related to the renewal in her interview. He told the outlet that the independent audit of the renovation could lead to 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 a federal crime requiring a referral to the attorney general had occurred, even as the watchdog blamed the central bank for major management and oversight failures that contributed to the project’s rising costs. President Donald Trump criticized the decision, he said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday after the news broke, saying Powell should be “forced to resign” from the central bank’s Board of Governors “at a minimum.” “He can’t run a building, and he certainly shouldn’t be allowed to run his high-interest rate policy (just ‘TRUMP!’),” Trump said. The Justice Department opened its investigation into the renewal in January. Prosecutors issued subpoenas to a grand jury seeking related records, but a federal judge vacated those subpoenas in March, finding that they had been issued for an improper purpose and that the government had essentially presented no evidence that Powell committed a crime. The Justice Department challenged the ruling, but later closed its investigation rather than appeal. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who succeeded Powell in May, said the central bank would hire an independent auditor and strengthen oversight of the project. Powell remains on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where his separate term runs through Jan. 31, 2028. Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to leave the board entirely after years of clashes over interest rate policy. CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero contributed to this report.
