Rep. Aaron Bean, R- Fla., discusses whether DOGE can effectively run when Elon Musk steps back on ‘Varney & Co.’
Billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should look into the Federal Reserve’s expenditures on its headquarters renovation.
Musk, who has been the DOGE figurehead since its inception and said last week he will step back from the role to focus more on his CEO duties at Tesla, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that DOGE should look at the Fed’s spending.
“Since at the end of the day, this is all taxpayer money, I think we certainly — we should definitely — look to see if, indeed, the Federal Reserve is spending two and a half billion dollars on their interior designer,” Musk said in remarks to reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
“That’s an eyebrow-raiser,” the billionaire added.
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Elon Musk will soon cut back on his time spent on DOGE to refocus on Tesla. (Jim Watson/AFP via / Getty Images)
The Federal Reserve said in a November 2022 memo that the cost of its multiyear renovation plans for the central bank’s headquarters, which began in 2021, had risen to $2.5 billion at the time as the U.S. economy faced inflation that reached the highest level in 40 years.
At the time, the Fed cited “significant increases in raw materials costs which far exceed standard cost escalations, higher labor costs, and changes in construction schedule expectations.”
ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT
The cost of the Federal Reserve headquarters renovation surged in 2021 and 2022 as inflation rose. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)
Since DOGE’s inception earlier this year, Musk has warned that its cost-cutting push may turn its focus to the Federal Reserve.
“All aspects of the government must be fully transparent and accountable to the people,” Musk wrote in a post on X in February. “No exceptions, including, if not especially, the Federal Reserve.”
POWELL PUSHES BACK ON MUSK/DOGE, SAYS FED ‘OVERWORKED,’ NOT ‘OVERSTAFFED’
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has pushed back against Musk’s previous criticisms of the central bank’s staffing and spending. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)
Musk had previously criticized the Fed’s workforce as being bloated, calling the central bank “absurdly overstaffed” in comments from December 2024. Earlier last year, he said the “Fed has a crazy high number of employees.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back on that criticism, saying in a February press conference that the Fed runs a “very careful budget process where we’re fully aware. We owe that to the public, and we believe we do that.”
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In congressional testimony that occurred later in February, Powell was asked if the Fed was overstaffed and replied, “No, I would say that, you know, overworked, maybe, not overstaffed. Everybody at the Fed works really hard.”
