Powell responds to Trump administration in spat over Fed's renovation
Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, suggested in a social media post last week that Powell had broken the law by failing to comply with government oversight regulations related to the Fed's ongoing $2.5 billion renovation, which includes the historic marble Marriner S. Eccles Building on the National Mall.
'The President is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve System,' Vought wrote in the letter he posted to social media last Thursday. 'Instead of attempting to right the Fed's fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious overhaul of your Washington D.C. headquarters.'
He gave Powell 'seven business days' to respond to the July 10 letter.
Powell said in his response that the renovation and its financing have always had careful oversight from the central bank's board and its own watchdog. He added that the Fed is 'not generally subject to the direction' of the National Capital Planning Commission, a body that oversees construction projects for the federal government. Powell said the Fed voluntarily opted to collaborate with the NCPC.
'We have taken great care to ensure the project is carefully overseen since it was first approved by the Board in 2017,' Powell wrote.
Additionally, Powell said upgrades that were reflected in official planning documents submitted to the NCPC in 2021 were later taken out, but the Fed didn't need to resubmit paperwork because they weren't 'substantial.'
The letter is similar to a FAQ posted on the Fed's website last week.
Vought is one of several officials in the Trump administration to criticize the rising costs of repair and renovation work on two major buildings in the Fed complex, seemingly as a pretext to justify firing the Fed chair.
Powell, who cannot be removed except 'for cause,' presides over the Fed's monetary policy committee that has been holding interest rates at current levels all year, contrary to President Donald Trump's wishes for lower borrowing costs.
'When you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation, I think it's really disgraceful,' Trump told reporters this week, adding that he believes it is 'sort of' a fireable offense. He clarified on Wednesday morning that it was 'highly unlikely' that he would fire Powell — 'unless he has to leave for fraud.'
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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The purchase price for the 1% NSR Silicon Royalty interest is US$ 275 million (~ C$ 375 million) comprised of US$ 250 million in upfront cash paid at closing and a further payment of US $25 million in cash payable upon the conclusion of an ongoing arbitration process that confirms the area subject to the royalty under final award to be consistent with Altius's interpretation of the partial award of the arbitration tribunal that was issued and reported on earlier this year. The Board of Directors of Altius has received a fairness opinion from Cormark Securities Inc. which opinion concluded that, based upon and subject to the assumptions made, procedures followed, matters considered, limitations and qualifications set out therein, the consideration to be received by ARC pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to ARC. Brian Dalton, CEO of Altius commented, "We are pleased to partner with Franco-Nevada on this royalty, which encompasses AGA's world-class Silicon and Merlin gold deposit discoveries in Nevada, as well as extensive areas of prospective surrounding land. The Transaction crystallizes significant value for shareholders while further demonstrating the ability of Altius's Project Generation business to amplify the return profile of its overall royalty investment portfolio. The decision to retain a third of our Silicon royalty interest also provides continuing growth exposure to this emerging gold district, while confirming the addition of precious metals as a long-term, well-balanced component of our shareholder's diversified royalty portfolio. We now look forward to the ability to explore a wider set of capital allocation and deployment opportunities, facilitated by a considerably strengthened balance sheet and liquidity profile, and to further growing shareholder value." Anticipated Benefits to Altius Shareholders Capital Allocation Opportunities Cash, after taxes and fees, expected to increase to more than C$ 360 million (assumes up front and further payment proceeds from this Transaction and also from the recent acquisition of Orogen Royalties Inc. by Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp.) Total liquidity increased to more than C$ 540 million (including C$ 116 million available under a revolving credit facility and C$ 62.5 million potentially available under an accordion feature) Creates enhanced flexibility to evaluate external M&A opportunities while limiting equity level dilution of existing assets and the embedded growth potential of our portfolio Improves ability to opportunistically increase per share exposure to existing royalty interests through share repurchases Retained Royalty Exposure Continuing optionality exposure to gold resource growth1 from current ~16 Moz resource estimate at the Arthur Gold Project, as AGA continues aggressive exploration and delineation drilling programs and the reporting of encouraging results Achieves rebalance of commodity exposures while confirming precious metals and another tier-1 quality royalty as components of Altius's long-term, diversified portfolio. For further information, please see the updated Altius corporate presentation posted to the website at 1 See Expanded Silicon Project Update presentation Financial and Legal Advisors Cormark Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Altius. Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal counsel to Altius and ARC. About Altius Altius's strategy is to create per share growth through a diversified portfolio of royalty assets that relate to long life, high margin operations. This strategy further provides shareholders with exposures that are well aligned with global growth trends including increasing electricity based market share within energy usage, global infrastructure build and refurbishment growth, increased EAF based steelmaking, steadily increasing agricultural fertilizer requirements and the enhanced appetite for financial asset diversification through precious metals ownership. These macro-trends each hold the potential to cause higher demand for many of Altius's commodity exposures including potash, high purity iron ore, renewable energy, base metals, and gold . In addition, Altius runs a successful Project Generation business that originates mineral projects for sale to developers in exchange for royalties and that has a demonstrated track record of driving outsized direct returns from its overall royalty investment portfolio. Altius has 46,315,304 common shares issued and outstanding that are listed on Canada's Toronto Stock Exchange. It is a member of both the S&P/TSX Small Cap and S&P/TSX Global Mining Indices and the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index. Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Altius provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. The information in this news release about the any anticipated benefits of the transaction to Altius Shareholders, timing and results of the ongoing arbitration process in respect of the Silicon royalty and possibility of ARC being paid contingent consideration of US$25 million following conclusion thereof, and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be forward looking information. In certain cases, forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Altius believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Altius does not undertake to update any forward-looking information contained herein except in accordance with securities regulations. View source version on Contacts For further information, please contact:Flora WoodEmail: Fwood@ Tel: 1.877.576.2209Direct: 1.416.346.9020 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
