Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday that “there is no painting going on” on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.Rahmat Gul/AP
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has taken a lead role in promoting President Donald Trump’s particular plans to mark America’s 250th anniversary. That includes helping fund Freedom250, an opaque, public-private partnership set up within Burgum’s department.
But how Freedom250 came about apparently is a mystery to the secretary—or so he said in congressional testimony on Wednesday.
Critics contend that the Trump administration is breaking laws, and dodging congressional oversight, by diverting funds appropriated for America250, a nonprofit organization set up by Congress to organize the country’s semiquincentennial, to Freedom250, a limited liability corporation that launched in December under the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, a federal agency that is part of the Interior Department.
At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing Wednesday on Interior’s budget request, Colorado Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the panel, pressed Burgum, with little success, for information on the decision-making behind Freedom250.
Burgum said he did not order anyone at Interior to set up the group.
“Do you know who did?” Huffman asked. “Who made that decision? Who ordered it?”
“I’m not aware of the final decision maker on Freedom250,” Burgum said.
Their exchange highlights the secrecy and resistance to congressional oversight that the Trump administration seeks, even as it celebrates the birthday of a country that has traditionally celebrated divided government and a constitution that gives Congress control over federal spending.
Unlike America250, Freedom250 is not legally required to hold bipartisan events. Nor is it informing lawmakers how it spends funds. And the group this year has taken over planning for high-profile, notably Trumpy events that the administration says are connected to the anniversary, including an all-day prayer festival on the National Mall on Sunday, which administration officials say will celebrate “Christian values”; an MMA fight the president plans to hold at the White House on his birthday; and an IndyCar race around the Mall in August.
Even as Trump encourages corporations, many seeking presidential support for their priorities, to fund Freedom250, Interior is also reportedly steering taxpayer funds to the group. Freedom250 has refused to detail its finances. Interior has also declined to provide information on the group’s funding.
Burgum appeared before the Congress to defend a budget request that includes deep cuts to most of his department, including the National Park Service. But he is also seeking $10 billion for a general fund the administration says will pay for beautification of federal land around Washington in connection with the 250th anniversary.
Burgum has said those funds do not cover a 250-foot arch Trump wants to construct by the Potomac River. Nor do they include the $1 billion the administration wants to spend for work including the ballroom Trump hopes construct after tearing down the White House’s East Wing.
Democrats on Wednesday repeatedly referred to the $10 billion as a “slush fund” that the department would use to support “vanity projects” touted by the president.
In connection with the 250th anniversary plans, Interior has awarded lucrative contracts to contractors reportedly favored by Trump to repair foundation and other landscaping features in Washington. The New York Times has reported that the department has repeatedly used an “urgency” exception—typically justified by life-threatening emergencies like natural disasters—to sidestep federal procurement rules that require competitive bidding. The administration says the exception is necessary to fulfill Trump’s wish to complete the work by July 4.
As the administration races to do so, costs appear to be increasing. A push to upgrade the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall by July 4, which Trump has claimed would cost $1.8 million, is now slated to cost more than $13 million, the Times reported. That project has drawn a lawsuit, and mockery, in part over images showing that contractors painted the base of the pool blue.
Burgum on Wednesday disputed some of lawmakers’ characterizations, even denying that contractors are painting the landmark.
“There is no painting going on on the reflecting pool,” he said. “It’s not paint. It’s a liner.”
