President Donald Trump’s reflecting pool renovation has sparked intense scrutiny in Washington and beyond, with critics hammering the project for its ballooning price tag, peeling paint, algal blooms and use of no-bid contracts.
As the controversy continues, one Democrat is demanding answers.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, fired off two letters to the contractors overseeing the makeover on Wednesday, requesting information about the repainting project, why the effort failed to prevent paint peeling and algae, and what corrective actions have been taken. He set a July 8 deadline for answers.
In the letters — first reported by MS NOW — Garcia questioned why the administration pursued the project amid rising costs at home and the war in Iran.
“As the nation grapples with a historic affordability crisis and a costly and failed war in the Middle East, President Trump is failing to protect our national treasures while wasting taxpayer dollars through poorly executed pet projects,” Garcia wrote.
“Now, as the Reflecting Pool’s new paint flakes off in chunks and water is consumed by algae, it appears those taxpayer dollars have been flushed down the drain,” he said. “While Americans struggle to afford basic necessities amid the economic turmoil sowed by the Trump Administration, I demand information and documents to understand how this egregious waste of taxpayer dollars was allowed to occur.”
Garcia sent letters to Curtis E. Wood of Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, which was hired to paint the reflecting pool, as well as John Cafaro of Green Water Solutions LLC, which was tapped to remove the algae that later appeared.
Neither man immediately responded to requests for comment.
The inquiry comes as scrutiny of the project intensifies. After repainting the pool “American flag blue,” paint began to peel and the water turned green from algae growth.
On Wednesday, the administration installed fencing around the landmark, with the pool expected to be drained again.
Since the beautification project was first announced in April, its cost has also skyrocketed. Initially expected to cost between $1.5 million and $2 million, the venture now carries a price tag of more than $14.65 million, according to ABC News, citing federal contract data.
“President Trump’s mismanagement of taxpayer dollars for the Reflecting Pool project yielded abysmal results for taxpayers,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia — who is on track to lead the investigations-driven Oversight Committee next year if Democrats win control of the House — zeroed in on the no-bid contracts awarded to both companies, noting that both groups have alleged connections to Trump.
For Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, Garcia pointed out that Trump previously said he thought of the firm after it worked on pools at his golf club years ago. According to The New York Times, the company had never received a federal contract until the reflecting pool project.
In remarks from the Oval Office in April, Trump said he told Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools.”
“We have a club, we have an olympic-size swimming pool, he did it 20 years ago and it’s perfect to this day,” Trump continued.
But in May, Trump said he didn’t know the contractor.
“I didn’t give out the contract, ‘Interior’ did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before,” he wrote on Truth Social.
For Green Water Solutions LLC, Garcia cited reporting from CBS News that said the company’s president and CEO, Cafaro, has donated to Trump-connected groups, including the 2020 election’s Trump Victory fundraising committee. The company has only received one other federal contract.
“The American people deserve better management of their tax dollars,” Garcia wrote. “They also deserve to know how the contractors selected to do this work were vetted, and how they plan to address their shoddy work moving forward.”
In a statement to MS NOW, Garcia said Trump “should be focused on making life more affordable for the American people, not rewarding his loyalists with government contracts and wasting taxpayer money on failing projects.”
The debacle, meanwhile, is beginning to spiral. On Monday, Trump accused individuals of vandalizing the reflecting pool, threatening to prosecute them.
“Please remember that there is a 10 year prison sentence for the destruction, or even the attempted destruction, of such things – Which will be fully enforced!” he wrote on Truth Social.
By Tuesday, Trump said six people were arrested and seven people had received citations, though only one arrest is currently known.
The post Top Oversight Democrat demands answers on Trump’s reflecting pool mess appeared first on MS NOW.
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