The National Capital development Commission is a mysterious body that governs urban development in the Washington region. On Wednesday night, President Trump removed Joe Biden’s nominees from the commission. Staff Secretary Will Scharf, Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, and Stuart Levenbach, an assistant to Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought, are the new political heavyweights replacing the typical nerdy architects.
It looked like an odd way for high-ranking officials to spend their time. The three met for the first time on Thursday and spent the afternoon talking about pollinating insect protection regulations and lighting plans for a Smithsonian building.
Once the new commissioners spoke out, though, and immediately attacked Jerome Powell, a political opponent of Trump’s, their presence became much more rational. Trump has demanded that Powell reduce interest rates, but Powell has refused. The Republican reaction has been a social media and congressional campaign against the Federal Reserve chair, who was himself nominated by Trump for a first term.
A campaign like this one doesn’t often find itself before the National Capital Planning Commission. However, Blair accomplished precisely that in his first public address to the gathering. He roared, “We should not be made fools of,” alluding to a more lavish plan for the Federal Reserve’s headquarters that had already been authorized by the Planning Commission. As has become a mantra for GOP politicians and right media, Blair quoted a scholar who indicated that Powell had misled under oath to the Senate about the remodeling.
Some Republicans, as stated last month by my colleagues Declan Harty and Victoria Guida, believe that Trump should fire Powell for cause because of the scandal, so he may avoid a legal dilemma with his intention to remove the head of an independent federal organization.
Blair expressed his intention to seek a comprehensive evaluation of the Federal Reserve project’s blueprints, calling it the “Taj Mahal on the National Mall.” In addition, he mentioned that he would need a comprehensive report outlining any revisions, updates, or additions to the authorized plan from 2021. “A site visit is something I’m going to ask for.”
The other Trump appointments agreed with him. In a plea for inclusion, Luvenbach offered his name. “I am excited to collaborate with you on this letter and the building inspection.” Members of the other commissions, who represent various congressional committees, cabinet departments, and D.C. government officials, chose to remain silent.
For a mostly non-partisan agency that has generated very few headlines in its 101 years of operation, this was, to put it mildly, an unprecedented event. Most of the people listening to Blair speak were architects who had matters before the panel. In the section designated for the press, there was just myself.
Here in Washington, however, this underappreciated event served as a timely reminder of what Trump stated during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday: I plan to use the influence I have over the shape of the city. Federal structures, as well as projects involving the District of Columbia government and privately held properties in specific central areas of the nation’s capital, are all subject to approval or rejection by the Planning Commission.
Among the topics covered by commissioners at Thursday’s meeting were a redevelopment project along the Anacostia River spearheaded by the District of Columbia government, a learning center at the Air and Space Museum financed by Jeff Bezos, and plans to renovate the arena that plays host to the Washington Nationals’ hockey and basketball teams. Theoretically, you have a great deal of influence over many others.
With the Planning Commission’s green light for the original headquarters plan—which aims for “additions that should emphasize the Federal Reserve’s civic importance while being modest and restrained”—Powell has certain influence. Protesting that the now-$2.5 billion price tag did not align with the promise of modesty, the Trump appointees to the panel voiced their disapproval during the session. After the fact, Blair informed me that his worries had nothing to do with the interest rate dispute.
In his opening remarks, Scharf stated, “I think with a commission like this, it’s extremely important, obviously, to get the planning right on the front end, but it’s equally important to ensure that when plans are duly approved, the construction proceeds according to plan.” Defending a concept as nebulous as “modest” in court is no easy feat. But it misses the purpose if you’re trying to push a guy by making his life difficult.
You can’t help but notice the larger campaign. While the Planning Commission was still in session, Vought, who is the boss of the new commissioner Levenbach, accused the Fed of breaking the National Capital Planning Act, the commission’s enabling legislation, in a letter to Powell that surfaced online. (By the way, the new Trump appointments may be considered a little out of place because the same statute specifies that commissioners must be “citizens with experience in city or regional planning.”)
No word yet from the Federal Reserve on Friday morning. During his testimony before the Senate this past summer, Powell denied claims that the mansion was too lavish.
Political clout over shadowy planning agencies is only one of many ways the White House may flex its muscles. The Washington Commanders’ proposed new stadium has already sparked a citywide controversy about it. The plan to construct on the property of the former RFK stadium, put out by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, has Trump’s full backing. However, not all city council members are on board with the idea of government subsidies to lure the NFL back to town. Aides to the mayor have been lobbying for support by bringing up the possibility that Trump may re-open the project through entities like the Planning Commission if the council does not approve it as-is.
What makes Trump noteworthy as our first developer president, though, is that his plans to utilize the Planning Commission in some areas really align with its purpose.
Building design, which has historically shown little variation between Democratic and Republican administrations, is now highly politicized. Even for properties that aren’t controlled by the federal government, Trump’s appointees can use that scale. As a former Trump attorney, Scharf made a passing reference to the administration’s favorite style—”Classical architecture”—in Thursday’s opening comments.
A prohibition on modernist design in government buildings was an executive order that Trump signed during his first administration. The progressives were outraged, and as soon as Biden took office, he reversed the order. Upon his return, Trump promptly reinstated it. It appears that the preference for brutalist façade or Ionic columns has become a contentious cultural issue.
An executive order that goes even beyond by discarding the 1962 “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture” drafted by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former Kennedy assistant and future senator, has been sought by conservatives. Traditionalists blame elite architects for imposing unsightly contemporary structures on the populace under the guise of being innovative, although the principles actually prohibited the country from establishing a “official style” and told the government to respect these professionals.
But in reality, the government can do almost the same thing by maximizing its influence over the three bodies with final say over Washington’s appearance: the Planning Commission, the Old Georgetown Board, and the Commission of Fine Arts.
To top it all off, they’ll be swamped: There will be a lot of abandoned modernist government buildings to dispose of due to the DOGE-inspired plans to leave iconic federal agency headquarters. Their fate is within the purview of the Planning Commission. In response to my question about his plans, Scharf just said, “stay tuned.” Former head of the Commission of Fine Arts Justin Shubow, who was instrumental in crafting the original presidential order mandating classical architecture and is now one of Trump’s first-term appointees, has spoken out: He advocated for the destruction of the Department of Energy’s existing home, the blocky modernist Forrestall Building, in an opinion piece published in February.
Trump wants to make his visual mark on the nation’s capital, Blair informed me. As for his background, he mentioned that he was a constructor. His exquisite taste in design and lucrative real estate ventures have brought him widespread renown. As the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, stands as a symbol of Western civilisation and, by extension, all civilizations. In addition, he is picky about how it looks and feels. And I believe he is eager to do all he can to impact that during his time here.