Powell responds to the White House regarding the reform of the Fed headquarters.
"We have taken great care to ensure that the project has been carefully monitored since its approval by the Council in 2017."
(Reuters)- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell responded Thursday to demands from a Trump administration official for information about cost overruns in a renovation project at the central bank's Washington headquarters, saying the project is large-scale and involves a number of security improvements and the removal of hazardous materials.
"As explained on the Council's public website, we take seriously the responsibility of being good stewards of public resources as we fulfill the duties entrusted to us by Congress on behalf of the American people," Powell wrote in his letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought.
"We have taken great care to ensure that the project has been carefully monitored since its approval by the Council in 2017."
Last week, Vought demanded answers from Powell to a series of questions about the project, which emerged as the latest line of attack against the Fed chair by the Trump White House.
(Reporting by Dan Burns and Howard Schneider)
