Huffman Demands Answers After Park Service Quietly Hires Contractors for Trump Golf Course

Huffman Demands Answers After Park Service Quietly Hires Contractors for Trump Golf Course Contracts were found buried in a federal procurement database days before Congress leaves town; one construction contract worth up to $49 million is forecast for January 2027 September 16, 2026 Washington, D.C. – Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) revealed during a committee hearing that the National Park Service awarded contracts on Sept. 10, with no notice to Congress, to begin work on Donald Trump’s planned takeover of the East Potomac Golf Course. “Democrats on this committee just learned that a couple of days ago, the Park Service hired a company to start working on the historic public golf course at East Potomac Park without any announcement, without a word to any of us, without a single public hearing,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “Now, this is not just any old golf course. This is a beloved public space with huge historic significance. […] Donald Trump is systematically moving to take this historic, publicly accessible resource and turn it into another gilded private golf club for the mega-rich. That’s what’s going on here, folks. This is a methodical, deliberate effort to take a public park away from the people. Taxpayers are going to foot the bill to rebuild this golf course to Donald Trump’s specifications. He might even sell it to himself, or just gift it to himself as a trophy, as another tribute to himself on his way out the door of the White House.” “Congress leaves town today, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this is the exact moment the administration has chosen to line up contracts, setting the stage to roll equipment into the park and start tearing up public land for a Trump golf course,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “Democrats on this committee are tracking all of this. We’re going to keep dragging it all into the daylight until the public gets the answers we deserve. We’re not going to let Donald Trump walk off with our public lands. That park belongs to the American people, and I’m not willing to sit here and watch him simply steal it.” The $389,355 award to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. covers environmental and historic preservation compliance work at the course. The Park Service has since posted a forecasted construction contract worth up to $49 million, with a projected solicitation date of Jan. 31, 2027. Together the contracts commit at least $50 million in federal funds, lined up the same week Congress leaves Washington. The contracts follow months of activity at the park. Recent reports confirm the administration has reached an agreement with Fazio Design and undisclosed private and public partners to begin major construction, and the President has said his goal is to turn the public course into a major championship or Ryder Cup venue. Crews have already cut down more than sixty trees while a court is still deciding whether the project is lawful. In light of this information, Ranking Member Huffman, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) also sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron demanding every document, communication, and record on the project. “East Potomac Park does not belong to Donald Trump,” the lawmakers wrote. “It belongs to the American people, and it has for more than a century.” The letter also questions the timing of a separate seawall project. The Department left the East Potomac Park seawall crumbling for a decade, then opened procurement for repairs in August 2026 and expanded the funding documents for the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park to cover additional stretches of the seawall. “But the question is why a project the Department never prioritized has suddenly become urgent at the precise moment separate contracts for Donald Trump’s makeover are going out,” the lawmakers wrote. “Executed in small pieces, the President’s plans for the course appear designed to evade accountability at the expense of the American taxpayer,” the lawmakers wrote. “We refuse to let this grotesque desecration of public land and waste of American tax-dollars go unaccounted.” The lawmakers requested all documents and communications since Jan. 20, 2025, on plans, cost estimates and funding sources for the golf course; the forecasted construction contract; the seawall project and its cost estimates; the tree removal; environmental and historic preservation compliance; and any proposed transfer of any part of East Potomac Park to the Trump Organization, Trump Golf Management or any Trump-affiliated entity. They also asked for all communications between the Department or the Park Service and Fazio Golf Designers, Meredith O’Rourke and Abby Matthis of Forward Strategies, the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation, the White House, the Trump Organization, Trump Golf Management and any member of the President’s family. Read the full letter here. ### Print Email Tweet Previous Article