1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Congress needs to exercise its oversight authority over the no-bid contracts awarded for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation. The Department of the Interior has paid nearly $15 million to contractors selected without competitive bidding — almost ten times the $1.5 million figure Trump has repeatedly cited in public. That gap demands an explanation. The contractor chosen to repaint the pool, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, was selected in part because the same company had previously done work at one of Trump's golf clubs. He said so himself. The original $6.8 million contract was then quietly expanded by another $6.2 million just last week. The Interior Department justified skipping competitive procurement by invoking "unusual and compelling urgency" tied to the 250th anniversary celebrations — but urgency doesn't excuse awarding a $13 million painting contract to a vendor with a personal connection to the president. This is exactly what congressional oversight exists to prevent. I want you to demand a full accounting of how these contracts were awarded, why costs have ballooned so far beyond what the public was told, and whether the contractor selection process complied with federal procurement law.