President Donald Trump called for Federal Reserve Board member Jerome Powell to resign from his post or face legal action Wednesday, hours after a Federal Reserve inspector general report found no criminal wrongdoing from Powell despite noting poor project management during his time as Fed chair created cost overrun for the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters.

Trump blamed Powell for the renovation’s cost overrun even though the watchdog report cleared Powell of criminal wrongdoing related to the project, noting it “did not identify administrative misconduct during our evaluation.”

“If he doesn’t resign, he should be sued, at the highest level, by the United States Government, for either corruption or incompetence, both of which are completely unacceptable,” Trump threatened.

More than $2 billion was awarded for construction costs, with the inspector general finding “inflation, limited subcontractor bidding, substantial Board interior fit-out design changes, and challenging site conditions” contributed to cost overruns.

The report also said the Fed’s board “had not effectively executed” the renovation contract, though there were no “reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred.”

Trump, who has renamed or sought to rename some federal buildings after himself, said he did not want the Federal Reserve’s headquarters named for him.

$2.5 billion. That is roughly the approved budget of the renovation, which is still ongoing and is expected to be complete in 2027, three years after its initial estimated completion date.

Trump has long criticized and threatened Powell as the former Fed chair refused to lower interest rates on demand during the president’s first and second term. Spurred by Trump, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Powell early this year regarding the headquarters renovation costs. A federal judge blocked the grand jury subpoenas issued against Powell and found the legal action against him lacked sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., blocked the confirmation of then-Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh by withholding a vote, demanding the investigation into Powell be dropped. The Justice Department then dropped the investigation and deferred to the Fed’s Office of the Inspector General.

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