Blumenthal Demands Answers From Burgum After National Park Service Rubberstamps Trump Construction Projects, Enables Blatant Corruption

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), yesterday demanded answers from Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Acting Director of the National Park Service (NPS) Jessica Bowron about the NPS's persistent lack of transparency in its efforts to advance President Trump's various construction projects throughout the nation's capital.

In a letter to Burgum and Bowron, Blumenthal wrote, "Your disregard for legal process and public interest has been apparent in projects ranging from the construction of a White House Ballroom and triumphal arch to the resealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and expansion of the Rock Creek Tennis Center."

Blumenthal continued, "Regular reports have revealed significant problems in the renovation or construction of monuments and spaces across the Washington, D.C. area. These drastic changes appear to be subject to the President's latest whims: for example, just last week President Trump announced without warning that he is also considering adding a promenade connecting the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial. While it is important that we maintain our national landmarks as they age, the scale, cost, and permanence of these projects has revealed troubling patterns of waste, fraud, and abuse across these episodes."

Blumenthal raised concerns about potential corruption and the lack of transparency surrounding President Trump's construction projects: "The Reflecting Pool contract was apparently awarded in a noncompetitive process to a company that had a previous relationship with President Trump for an inflated profit margin. The known donors to the White House Ballroom include a host of companies and individuals with business before the Administration. And repairs to the fountains at Lafayette Park are apparently being done under a no-bid contract at an inflated sum by a construction company that has become a favorite of the President."

Blumenthal continued, "Running through all these incidents is an inexplicable disregard for legal process. NPS has reportedly justified its decisions to rely on non-bid contracts due to purported 'urgency' that does not hold up to even mild scrutiny."

"NPS's mission is to 'preserve[] unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,' not to run roughshod over the law in order to help the current President benefit his friends and alter our cultural heritage however he sees fit," Blumenthal concluded.

As Ranking Member of PSI, Blumenthal led an investigation into President Trump's East Wing project, writing to each of the reported donors to the ballroom, as well as donors previously kept secret by the White House, to seek information about the terms of their donations and any potential deals made in exchange for contributions.

Blumenthal has also demanded answers from the lead architect, construction firm, and engineering firm selected to work on President Trump's ballroom and pressed Clark Construction, the firm selected to build the ballroom, for details after it was awarded a no-bid contract to make repairs to the public fountains in Lafayette Square across the street from the White House.

The full text of today's letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Burgum and Acting Director Bowron,

I write regarding the persistent lack of transparency that the National Park Service (NPS) has demonstrated in its efforts to help President Trump leave an indelible imprint on our nation's capital. Your disregard for legal process and public interest has been apparent in projects ranging from the construction of a White House Ballroom and triumphal arch to the resealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and expansion of the Rock Creek Tennis Center. Accordingly, I write to request documents and information regarding NPS's work related to President Trump's preferred projects in the Washington, D.C. area.

Regular reports have revealed significant problems in the renovation or construction of monuments and spaces across the Washington, D.C. area. These drastic changes appear to be subject to the President's latest whims: for example, just last week President Trump announced without warning that he is also considering adding a promenade connecting the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial.^[1] While it is important that we maintain our national landmarks as they age, the scale, cost, and permanence of these projects has revealed troubling patterns of waste, fraud, and abuse across these episodes.

The first of these patterns is blatant corruption. The Reflecting Pool contract was apparently awarded in a noncompetitive process to a company that had a previous relationship with President Trump for an inflated profit margin.^[2] The known donors to the White House Ballroom include a host of companies and individuals with business before the Administration.^[3] And repairs to the fountains at Lafayette Park are apparently being done under a no-bid contract at an inflated sum by a construction company that has become a favorite of the President.^[4]

Second, these episodes consistently demonstrate a shocking lack of transparency. The Administration has not publicly provided a list of all of the donors to the White House Ballroom or the amounts of their donations.^[5] The Reflecting Pool and the construction at Lafayette Park were awarded under secretive contracts for seemingly inflated sums, with the contract at Lafayette Park reportedly coming in at a total of $17.4 million for work the Biden Administration in 2022 had estimated would cost $3.3 million.^[6] Work on the arch was reportedly set to begin under an existing unrelated contract for engineering services on the White House grounds, a move seemingly designed to bypass a public bidding process.^[7]

Third, running through all these incidents is an inexplicable disregard for legal process. NPS has reportedly justified its decisions to rely on non-bid contracts due to purported "urgency" that does not hold up to even mild scrutiny.^[8] This process was used to rush through contracts for both the work at Lafayette Park and the Reflecting Pool, and those are just the known examples.^[9] NPS has also reportedly decided it will not seek congressional approval for President Trump's arch, relying instead on an approval from 1924 for a different structure in the same area that was never built.^[10] Similarly, the Trump Administration disregarded environmental laws prior to dumping waste from the White House Ballroom project at the golf course on East Potomac Park, waste which subsequently tested positive for significant levels of toxic metals.^[11] Finally, the Trump Administration moved forward at extraordinary speed with the long-term lease of property including and surrounding the Rock Creek Tennis Center to an individual with a financial interests in the site, despite documented concerns from NPS employees that the lease did not meet legal requirements for conservation.^[12]

NPS's mission is to "preserve[] unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,"^[13] not to run roughshod over the law in order to help the current President benefit his friends and alter our cultural heritage however he sees fit. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ("the Subcommittee") is conducting an inquiry into NPS's continuing disregard for the law and its mission, as well as its apparent waste of taxpayer resources. Accordingly, pursuant to Senate Rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate and Senate Resolution 94 (119th Cong.), Section 12, I write to request that you provide the Subcommittee with the following information by June 23, 2026:

1. A list of any contracts awarded under any "urgency" exceptions to normal open-bidding procedures from January 20, 2025 to the present, including the date the contract was awarded, the company or individual awarded the contract, the amount of the contract, a brief description of the work to be undertaken pursuant to the contract, and the justification for the use of an "urgency" exemption;
2. A detailed description of any environmental testing that was conducted on the waste dumped at East Potomac Park prior to its dumping;
3. A complete list of any and all companies that currently have a contract or who have submitted bids to provide work regarding the contemplated arch near Memorial Bridge, including the amount of the contract, the date it was awarded, and a brief description of the work to be undertaken pursuant to the contract;
4. A complete list of any and all companies that currently have a contract to provide work regarding renovation or restoration of the World War II Memorial, including the amount of the contract, the date it was awarded, and a brief description of the work to be undertaken pursuant to the contract;
5. A complete list of the donors and their donation amounts made to the Trust for the National Mall for the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom; and
6. A complete list of any projects (including new statutes or monuments or renovations to existing statutes or monuments) currently under consideration on land controlled by NPS in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia.

Please also provide the Subcommittee with the following records^[14] by June 23, 2026:

1. All records regarding the ongoing work conducted on the Reflecting Pool;
2. All records regarding any renovations to the fountains at Lafayette Park;
3. All records regarding the proposed arch near Memorial Bridge;
4. All records regarding planned renovations for the World War II Memorial;
5. All records regarding any planned new promenade at the Lincoln Memorial;
6. All records regarding the lease of Rock Creek Tennis Center and the surrounding lands;
7. All records regarding donations made to the to the Trust for the National Mall for the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom, including communications^[15] with potential donors and Pledge Agreement Forms; and
8. All records regarding any work contemplated on land controlled by the NPS in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia.

Please contact Subcommittee staff should you have any questions about responding to this request. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

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1. Energy & the Environment