Scoop: Ted Cruz wants to make Columbus Fountain flow again
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Columbus Circle, also known as Union Station Plaza, onJuly 8th, 2024. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling on the Interior Department to clean up Washington D.C.'s Columbus Circle and transfer control of the area south of Union Station to the Department of Transportation.
Why it matters: To mark the federal holiday that President Trump insists should be called "Columbus Day," Cruz is preparing to introduce the ''Make Christopher Columbus Circle Great Again Act."
- "Under Democrat administrations the area had become overrun by drug addicts, the severely mentally ill, and virulently angry, anti-American agitators, creating a safety concern for residents, visitors, and commuters," Cruz and Rep. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), write in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
- "The monument, once a proud representation of Italian American heritage, is now often obscured by degenerates, clutter, signage, and debris that detract from its intended purpose and historic integrity," they write.
Zoom out: In August, Trump declared that he would tackle homelessness and crime in the nation's capital and deploy federal resources, including the National Guard, to achieve his goals.
- By early September dozens of homeless encampments had been cleared, but many unhoused people and tents remained in D.C.
- At Columbus Circle, one anti-Trump protest encampment was dismantled on Oct. 3, but at least one other remains.
- The area is a warren of traffic lanes, grass, brick and marble, and two porta-potties.
- For visitors arriving in D.C. at Union Station, it's their first encounter with the city.
Zoom in: Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, is outraged by the overall appearance of Columbus Circle, and many congressional staffers (and reporters) walk across from Union Station to the Capitol.
- Along with Rulli, Cruz is introducing legislation to transfer control of the area from the Interior Department to the Transportation Department, which is in charge of Union Station.
- "DOT is a more natural fit to manage and oversee security at the plaza, which is naturally the station's entranceway," he and Rulli write to Burgum.
The bottom line: The Columbus Fountain has been dry for nearly two decades, Cruz says.
- He wants it to flow again.
