Democrats Flag Quiet Contracts for Trump's East Potomac Golf Course Plan

The National Park Service has begun awarding contracts for work tied to President Donald Trump's proposed redevelopment of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, according to Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee, who raised the matter at a hearing on Wednesday.

Representative Jared Huffman of California, the panel's ranking Democrat, said the agency engaged a civil engineering firm without any public announcement or advance notice to Congress. He described the course as a cherished public space of considerable historic value, and accused the administration of methodically converting a publicly accessible resource into a private club for the wealthy, with taxpayers bearing the cost.

A contract approved the previous week directs nearly $400,000 to a Massachusetts-based company for environmental and historic preservation compliance work at the site, Huffman said. The award of $389,355 went to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., which maintains an office in Washington, D.C., among other locations. The Park Service has also posted a projected construction contract valued at up to $49 million, with a solicitation date expected on January 31, 2027.

The contracting activity follows months of developments at the park. Democrats said the administration has reached an agreement with Fazio Design and undisclosed public and private partners to start major construction, citing published reports. Trump has said he wants to transform the course into a world-class golf venue, part of a broader vision for the capital in which he has demolished storied structures, remade or renamed others, and deployed the National Guard for more than a year.

A lawsuit challenging the plan contends that the redevelopment would violate the congressional act that established the park more than a century ago.

Huffman, along with Maryland Representatives Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Virginia Representative Don Beyer, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting park service director Jessica Bowron seeking all documents, communications and records related to the project. The lawmakers wrote that East Potomac Park does not belong to Trump but to the American people, and has for over a century.

Huffman said Democrats on the committee are monitoring the process and will press for public answers, adding that they will not allow the park to be taken from the public. Spokespeople for the Interior Department and the National Park Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.