The Trump administration may have run afoul of federal contracting and ethics laws
The Trump administration may have run afoul of federal contracting and ethics laws
- Fri, Jun 26 2026 at 10:32 AM
Mark, we just filed a new complaint about some outrageous conduct from the Trump administration:
New York Times: Firm Tied to Trump Donor Got No-Bid Contract to Clean Reflecting Pool
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.
So yesterday we filed a complaint asking the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate whether these contracts violated federal procurement rules, ethics standards or other legal requirements.
We’ll explain more below, but the core issue is clear: Taxpayers deserve better than a system where political connections override competition and costs keep rising without accountability.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.
This was initially described as a quick, low-cost renovation, but 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.
- For Lafayette Park, 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.
And at least in the case of the reflecting pool, since entering the contract with the president’s chosen vendor, the project has run into a number of issues necessitating additional taxpayer funding: algae blooms and chipping paint.
Mark, government contracting rules exist for a reason: they’re meant to prevent favoritism, waste, and inflated costs to ensure taxpayer money is being used as efficiently and effectively as possible, which includes full and open competition.
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.
This 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 federal contracts, combined with the apparent lack of standard procurement safeguards and rising costs across these deals, raises serious concerns that warrant immediate investigation by the IG. That’s why we filed a formal complaint—and we’re committed to seeing this through, but we need your support to continue our work.
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