More Trump No-Bid Contracts: $17M to Repair Fountains, $13M to Turn Reflecting Pool Blue
NEWS & RESEARCH
The Trump Administration awarded Maryland-based Clark Construction a secret, no-bid contract to repair two fountains in Lafayette Park across from the White House at a cost of $17.4 million—far exceeding a 2022 estimate of $3.3 million. To bypass standard competitive bidding laws, the National Park Service invoked a rare "urgency" exemption, citing the need to complete the project before America’s 250th anniversary in May 2026. Likewise, Trump steered a contract to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings that had performed work at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, VA to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue, citing the urgency of having it done for the 4th of July. According to a Park Service contractig specialist, the contractor was charged a 20 percent profit —adding at leaat $850,000 to the cost—substantially more than the typical 6 to 12 percent profit margin for like contracts.
SOURCES: AlterNet | New York Times | New York Times | New York Times
ANALYSIS & OPINION
Contracting experts and former consultants questioned the sharply inflated price, the double-accounting for inflation, and the use of "emergency" procedures for a project described by specialists as relatively low in technical complexity. Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, called the Trump renovation projects a way that “friends and business associates of the president are being rewarded with no public scrutiny.”
SOURCES: New York Times | The Independent | New York Times
HOW TO FIX IT
Tighten Exemptions: Congress should narrowly define the "emergency" carve-outs that allow for sole-source or no-bid contracts.
Strengthen Oversight: Enhance conflict-of-interest statutes and enforcement mechanisms within federal contracting.
Rigorous Implementation: Support amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation to prevent organizational conflicts of interest in federal acquisitions.
SOURCES: POGO | Senator Peters | Federal Register
