A peek inside the Fed's renovations that are now at the center of a DOJ probe

• The Federal Reserve's renovation project was expected to cost $1.9 billion. It now has a $2.5 billion price tag.

• Lead paint and asbestos discoveries contributed to increased renovation expenses and delays.

• Fed chairman Jerome Powell said a new DOJ probe is part of ongoing pressure from the Trump administration.

The Federal Reserve's planned five-year renovation project is causing quite the stir in Washington.

Renovations began around 2022 on two Federal Reserve offices, the Marriner S. Eccles Building and the Federal Reserve Bank of East Building, which were first assembled in the 1930s, according to plans reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission in 2021.

As workers gutted the aging structures, they uncovered lead paint and asbestos, pushing the cost of the renovations rose from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, as Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell described in a letter defending the renovation's budget last year.

President Donald Trump has blamed the overruns on mismanagement and allegations of luxury additions. On Sunday, Kevin Hassett, director of the administration's National Economic Council, told ABC's This Week that the project became "the most expensive project in D.C. history."

Later that day, Powell revealed the central bank now faces a potential Department of Justice investigation, and he's facing a potential criminal indictment over the cost increases.

"No one — certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve — is above the law," Powell responded in a two-minute social media video. "But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure."

As questions swirl around the renovations, Business Insider gathered images of the construction, floor plans for the renovations, and design mock-ups.

The Eccles and FRB-East buildings have been wrapped in scaffolding and cranes since 2022.

Construction workers broke ground on the renovations in 2022 on the 93- and 88-year-old buildings.

The Fed said the building has not had a modernization project in decades. A series of decades-old electrical, heating, plumbing, and air ventilation systems ran through the historic building.

The project was necessary to "address a critical backlog of upgrades, to respond to changes in building codes and regulatory requirements, and to meet requirements for information technology, building security, environmental sustainability, and energy efficiency," according to plans produced by the Fed and released to the public in 2021.