Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview Monday the entire Federal Reserve needs to be reviewed.
"What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful," Bessent said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "Has the organization succeeded in its mission? If this were the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and look at why has this happened."
Bessent's comments come amid intense criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell by President Donald Trump for not lowering interest rates.
"They were fearmongering over tariffs, and thus far we have seen very little, if any, inflation," Bessent said. "We've had great inflation numbers. So, you know, I think this idea [is] of them not being able to break out of a certain mindset. All these Ph.D.s over there, I don't know what they do."
Powell has also been ensnared in controversy over a renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters that has seen costs skyrocket.
Last week, Powell called on the bank's inspector general to investigate renovations at the group's headquarters, Politico reported.
At a Senate Banking Committee hearing last month, Powell denied reports that the Federal Reserve spent billions to turn the headquarters into the "palace of Versailles," as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., described it.
"There's no VIP dining room; there's no new marble. There are no special elevators," Powell said. "There are no new water features, there's no beehives, and there's no roof terrace gardens."
The cost for the renovations has already ballooned 30% from an original estimate of $1.9 billion, the New York Post reported.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.