The Trump administration may have run afoul of federal contracting and ethics laws when it awarded contracts for renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and maintenance on Lafayette Park fountains to Trump associates, without seeking bids through the typical full and open competition requirements for government contracts. CREW filed a complaint asking the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) to investigate the circumstances under which these contracts were approved to determine if the agency or its officials violated the Federal Acquisition Regulations, the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Executive Branch Employees and any other relevant legal requirements. The letter also demands that OIG review whether White House officials intervened in the contracting process or communicated with agency officials to support White House justifications for the state of the reflecting pool.

In April remarks to the press about the reflecting pool, President Trump announced that it would be renovated in advance of the 250th anniversary celebrations for the Fourth of July. For this project, the president referred the contractor he allegedly used for a swimming pool at his private golf course for the job. According to public reporting, President Trump likewise played a direct role in selecting a contractor to complete renovations to public fountains located in Lafayette Park, directly across from the White House.

Each of these projects ultimately cost more than their initial estimate. For the reflecting pool, Trump claimed that his preferred contractor would finish the work in one week for less than $2 million dollars. However, the contract deadline was extended and the project took two months, costing over $14 million. The Biden administration estimated that the work to repair the Lafayette Park fountains would cost $3.3 million, but the Trump administration initially agreed to pay the president’s preferred contractor nearly $12 million in taxpayer funds and later revised the contract to cost $17.4 million. When announcing the ballroom renovation, Trump claimed it would cost $200 million. Recent reporting showed that estimate has now ballooned to $600 million.

Since entering the contract with the president’s chosen vendor, the reflecting pool has run into a number of issues necessitating additional taxpayer funding. The new blue paint has begun to peel, and the pool experienced significant algae blooms. President Trump promised another round of renovations to address these issues, and the Interior Department has attempted to treat the pool with chemicals to cut off the algae’s food supply. President Trump has also claimed that the peeling paint is the result of vandals, and his administration has stationed federal law enforcement officials at the pool to police the area.

Government contracts are subject to a robust process to ensure taxpayer money is being used as efficiently and effectively as possible, which includes full and open competition. Under very limited circumstances, agencies may exercise authority to contract without full and open competition, but agencies are still required to “solicit offers from as many potential sources as is practicable under the circumstances” and the contract must identify the specific authority under which it was justified to be noncompetitive. Nothing authorizes the president to award sole source contracts or for agencies to award government contracts based on the president’s recommendation or personal preference. Such unscrupulous behavior harms businesses that play by the rules in the contracting process, their workers, and the taxpayers, who get less value for their money.

Taxpayers deserve to know that their money is being used to their benefit, not to the benefit of the president’s preferred associates. President Trump’s outsized role in awarding contracts, the apparent lack of typical federal contracting practices and the increased costs or estimates for the contracts warrants swift investigation from the inspector general’s office.

Read the complaint here.

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