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Committee questioning over Fed construction plans after NCPC pages cited; Fed official disputes some reporting
Summary
Speaker 1 cited National Capital Planning Commission pages he said showed rooftop gardens, ornate water features, VIP dining-suite elevators and white marble in Federal Reserve final plans; Speaker 2 called some descriptions 'flatly misleading,' said plans have evolved and offered staff follow-up.
Speaker 1 cited the National Capital Planning Commission website as evidence that final plans for a Federal Reserve project included rooftop garden terraces, ornate water features (pages 127–129), an elevator serving a VIP dining suite (page 37) and white marble (pages 40, 41, 65), and asked whether those items were in the plans and whether they had changed since media reports in April.
Speaker 2 responded that ‘‘some of those are just flatly misleading,’’ said the elevator in question ‘‘has been there since the building was built’’ and that several items are no longer in the plans because the plans ‘‘have continued to evolve.’’ The official offered to have staff meet with the questioner’s staff to walk through the plans and the timeline.
Speaker 1 reiterated that clarity about when the plans changed would be helpful and invited the Fed’s staff to ‘‘walk my staff through what is happening there’’ rather than relying on media reports. Speaker 2 repeated an offer to follow up and emphasized that the cited features were not the main cost drivers for increased spending.
The exchange ended with Speaker 1 noting a desire not to take another member’s time and restating concerns about being misled by conflicting accounts. The committee did not record a vote on construction spending in the provided transcript excerpt.
