Senators want to investigate no-bid contracts and whether the contractors’ work contributed to an algae bloom and peeling paint.
Read more Continuing a sporting trend, the International Tennis Federation is now World Tennis
Democrats are pressing the Trump administration to explain why officials awarded no-bid contracts as part of President Donald Trump’s renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, with lawmakers asking whether the expedited process contributed to the pool’s algae bloom and the need for further repairs.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Oregon), the top Democrat on two committees that oversee the Interior Department, on Wednesday night wrote to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and two firms retained to work on the project, Atlantic Industrial Coatings and Green Water Solutions, which have received more than $16 million in federal contracts for their work.
Merkley asked the administration and the firms to share details of the contracts; to explain whether the choice to resurface the pool’s basin with a color handpicked by Trump, “American flag blue,” could have contributed to the algae bloom; and to provide evidence that supports Trump’s claim that “vandals” subsequently damaged the pool and have forced the administration to perform additional work, among other questions. The letter was shared with The Washington Post.
“I’m launching an investigation because taxpayers deserve swift answers — and a refund,” Merkley said in a statement to The Post.
The Interior Department awarded a $14.7 million contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings and $1.7 million to Green Water Services, according to federal records. Green Water Services is owned by John J. Cafaro, who has previously donated to Trump.
The department has said that the use of no-bid contracts was legally justified under an exception in federal procurement regulations that covers “unusual and compelling urgency.” Trump has said that the urgent work was necessary to complete renovations to the pool ahead of July 4 celebrations to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Trump on Wednesday repeated his claim that the pool has been deliberately damaged.
“They went down with probably a box cutter or a very sharp razor … and they cut, and then they started ripping it up,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that repair work was likely in the coming weeks.
To date, the White House has not disclosed evidence to back Trump’s repeated claims of large-scale vandalism. The Justice Department on Wednesday night told a federal judge that the National Park Service determined on June 9 that a caulk over the foam sealant had been cut, and that about 70 fence post tops had been thrown into the Reflecting Pool. Trump officials also told the judge that they would begin draining the pool after July 4, a plan the president had referenced earlier in the day.
Read more Klopp walks off when asked about Schweinsteiger’s remarks on Ivory Coast’s style at World Cup
“We’re going to let a little water out, because you have to let the water out to fix it. We’re going to fix it, and then the water goes back in,” Trump said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), the top Democrat on the Senate’s permanent subcommittee for investigations, on Wednesday said he was broadening his probe into the Interior Department’s use of no-bid contracts and other urgent procedures to complete the Reflecting Pool and other projects.
“Rushed no-bid contracts given to unqualified vendors with previous relationships to the President resulted in a reflecting pool more covered with algae than before, with freshly painted chunks of paint peeling from the bottom and floating on the pool’s surface,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Burgum and the acting head of the National Park Service. He also sent a letter to Cafaro, requesting further details about how the company won its contract and its work to install a water purification system at the pool.
Blumenthal said that he had not received a response to a letter he sent two weeks ago to the Interior Department’s leaders that asked for details on the pool renovations and Trump’s other construction projects.
The Democrats’ efforts come as Trump has repeatedly claimed his renovations to the Reflecting Pool are a success — despite a significant algae bloom that prompted further work — and blamed the need for further work on vandalism.
“It was going to take four years to build, and we did it in like a month, a month and a half,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office.
Democrats have said that if they retake one or both chambers of Congress this fall, they will open probes into Trump’s construction projects, including the Reflecting Pool.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy organization that sued in May to halt Trump’s work on the project, asked a federal judge on Monday to intercede before the administration undertook further renovations.
“It is also not too late to correct course,” the group wrote in its filing, urging the administration to “do what the law requires: Engage with experts and the public, and make an informed decision about what is best based on the consultations mandated by the law, instead of once again rushing ahead with half-baked ideas.”
Read more Nationals again can’t get the final out and fall to the Phillies
