Trump deputies take over powerful D.C. planning commission
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The NCPC has authority over buildings in the monumental core, like the Federal Reserve. Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Loyalists of President Trump are using an obscure D.C. architecture commission to go after political foe Jerome Powell over the renovation of the Federal Reserve building.
Why it matters: The National Capital Planning Commission casts make-or-break votes on construction projects in key parts of the city and serves as tastemaker for design across the Washington region (see: the upcoming RFK Stadium redevelopment).
- But in a twist, its three new presidentially-appointed members — all White House officials — are using it to needle Powell, claiming the Fed chair is mismanaging a costly rehab of the Fed's headquarters on Constitution Avenue, perhaps as pretext to fire him for not lowering interest rates.
Driving the news: The board's new chairman is Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, also known as the man on TV who hands Trump executive orders to sign.
- Michael Blair and Stuart Levenbach, also White House officials, were named to represent Virginia and Maryland, respectively.
Trump's new appointments surprised local observers who, while expecting turnover, assumed its members would have more robust résumés in architecture and design.
- Scharf is Trump's former personal lawyer. And now he'll be making sure the Capital One Arena's new digital billboards will be mounted flush with its metal façade — the level of aesthetic detail this local commission spends its days deliberating.
- In his introductory comments to NCPC Scharf said he previously served under Missouri's governor, in which "capacity I worked extensively on economic development, tax credit issues and related permitting and planning issues, which I guess is my most relevant experience for the purposes of this commission."
Friction point: Before turning to matters such as the redevelopment of Poplar Point at their Thursday meeting, Scharf claimed the Fed's renovation project has made "serious deviations" from plans approved by the commission in 2021.
- It looks like a "Taj Mahal near the National Mall," Blair threw out.
Powell denied to senators last month the plans were ostentatious — "no VIP dining room ... no beehives," he said. Which only spawned a new attack: the Fed has violated the National Capital Planning Act by not following the approved blueprint.
- The NCPC's new members agreed to draft a letter "scrutinizing this project further."
The bottom line: Trump, the builder who continues to flirt with a takeover of D.C., now has a board directly hooked up to the White House that holds sway over anyone seeking permits to build in D.C.'s most prized real estate.