President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cause if evidence supports that, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday, adding that the Fed "has a lot to answer for" on renovation cost overruns at its Washington headquarters.

Hassett told ABC's "This Week" program that any decision by Trump to try to fire Powell over what the Trump administration calls a $700 billion cost overrun "is going to depend a lot on the answers that we get to the questions that Russ Vought sent to the Fed."

Vought, the White House budget director, last week slammed Powell over an "ostentatious overhaul" of the Fed's buildings and answers to a series of questions. Trump has repeatedly said that Powell should resign because he has not lowered interest rates.