Scoop: Cost of D.C. mayor's inaugural parade stand balloons to $1.5M

State of play: The viewing stand outside city hall at the John A. Wilson Building is a presidential inauguration tradition. VIPs get heated front row seats to the president's motorcade a few blocks before it reaches the White House.

• In 2017, the glass-enclosed, carpeted stand cost $419,560, the Washington Post reported.
• It was nixed for President Biden's pared-down ceremonies during COVID.

The $1.5 million price is "a significant increase attributed to rising construction costs driven largely by the pandemic," Dora Lowe, a spokesperson for the mayor, told Axios.

• It seats 154 people, split between the Bowser administration and D.C. Council. Residents can request tickets from council members when they become available.

What I'm hearing: There may be plenty of tickets to go around. Most council offices did not return Axios' questions about whether their lawmaker will attend.

For Trump's first inauguration, many lawmakers boycotted and debated paring down the spectator stand. Only three out of 13 members attended, per the Post.

• "No one from our staff plans to attend at this time," said Lindsey Walton, spokesperson for D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, whose plans haven't been announced yet.
• Council member Brooke Pinto, for one, told Axios she will attend.

The mayor's office says Bowser will attend.

My thought bubble: Bowser sat down with Trump last month for an hourlong "forward-looking" meeting at Mar-A-Lago, so don't expect her to needlessly snub the president like some council members might.

• "President Trump and I both want Washington, D.C., to be the best, most beautiful city in the world, and we want the capital city to reflect the strength of our nation," she said in a statement after their meeting.

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