https://www.notus.org/metro Metro en-US Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:12:18 GMT https://www.notus.org/policy/usda-bed-bugs-infestation Eric Katz The department sent staff home twice, but has declined to do so a third time after the insects returned. Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:12:18 GMT https://www.notus.org/policy/usda-bed-bugs-infestation A bed bug infestation at an Agriculture Department building is riling agency staff, reigniting frustrations over remote work policy and making at least some employees sick.

The bugs were found in the building that houses the Animal and Plant Inspection Service, the agency responsible for containing and mitigating the spread of invasive pests in the U.S. The irony, one USDA employee said, “was lost on no one.”

The George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, first notified employees of the situation in mid-May, according to five employees familiar with the matter and a transcript of a town hall meeting obtained by NOTUS. The department opted to send employees home and allow them to telework for a few days to fumigate the building.

When employees returned, however, they complained of noxious fumes and resulting sickness, and USDA once again authorized them to work remotely. The telework approval was a rare exception to the Trump administration’s push to require all federal workers to report to their normal workplaces five days per week.

On Friday, USDA officials notified employees that bed bugs were again observed in the building. This time around, three employees said, the department has not authorized any additional telework. Instead, department leadership told employees to take personal vacation time if they did not want to report to the office.

Employees at two USDA agencies, APHIS and the Agricultural Research Service, report to the GWC campus. The bugs were found specifically in the building that houses APHIS, though USDA fumigated the entire GWC Center.

In the town hall meeting last month, Kelly Moore, the acting APHIS administrator, and Carson Hawley, its acting chief operating officer, told employees they expected the building would only be closed for a few days but would email them later to confirm. APHIS made that immediate decision unilaterally, they said, but USDA owns the building and would make future determinations.

In the interim, employees told one another they felt disgusted by the conditions and, in some cases, became so paranoid that they were constantly itchy. The back-and-forth nature has also left staff distraught as they await the next turn of events.

“They treated the building, and then they sent people home again because of offgassing,” said another employee, who, like all of those quoted in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “Then they came back. Now there’s more bedbugs.”

Another worker said employees had “returned to an office that was making them sick because the chemicals hadn’t aired out.” That person lamented that employees were required to take personal leave if they did not want to work in a building still infested with bed bugs, noting many of them rely on public transportation and had not received instruction on preventing the spread of the insects in that setting.

In an email to staff on Friday, Hawley suggested that employees were responsible for the return of the bed bugs as they engaged in “insufficient compliance regarding personal items.” She instructed employees to place all those belongings into garbage bags and remove them from the building.

“We appreciate your support and compliance so that APHIS can do our part to ensure that Building 3 is bedbug free,” Hawley said.

A USDA spokesperson also attributed the bed bugs’ reemergence to employee negligence. The spokesperson declined to explain why employees have not been offered another chance to work remotely.

“USDA took prompt and robust action several weeks ago,” the spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, personal belongings left in the offices caused further issue. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service management is working with employees to ensure the spaces are emptied for proper mitigation.”

Employees said they were hesitant to bring their belongings out of the office and further risk introducing bed bugs into their own homes. They have also discussed among themselves the possibility of filing a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but fear retribution for doing so.

“They are scared,” one worker said of their colleagues. “If you bring them home, the answer is to trash all of your belongings and fumigate your house at your own expense.”

APHIS is currently responding to crises including bird flu and the spread of New World screwworm, which in recent days was found within 50 miles of the U.S. border. Those response efforts are not centralized in Washington, though some staffers raised concerns about the impacts the hazardous working conditions and the push for staff to take time off would have on that critical work.

“Not allowing employees to telework while the office is infested with bed bugs is an unnecessary significant risk to U.S. cattle health, with experts dealing with the NWS situation forced to go home if they don’t want to get bed bugs,” one employee said.

Staff also questioned why USDA did not authorize a special category of paid time off known as “weather and safety leave,” which federal agencies can turn to when conditions arise that prevent employees from “safely performing work at an approved location.”

USDA is currently looking to relocate thousands of employees out of the Washington region as part of a larger reorganization effort. That is set to result in the offloading of the George Washington Carver Center.]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/america-250-shortfall-freedom-250-interior-funds Anna Kramer America250 is facing a $100 million “shortfall.” The Trump-created group Freedom 250 has received $80 million in taxpayer dollars. Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:02:41 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/america-250-shortfall-freedom-250-interior-funds The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions in taxpayer funds from the bipartisan group created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday while simultaneously directing money toward President Donald Trump’s favored projects for the anniversary.

Trump established a new organization called Freedom 250 in December to plan events for the birthday, even though Congress had already created a bipartisan commission called America250.

The bipartisan commission told Congress that it has a $100 million “funding shortfall,” according to a document obtained by NOTUS. America250 had received only $25 million of the $100 million it expected from the Trump administration as of April, and less than anticipated from other sources as well, according to that commission report.

Meanwhile, the Interior Department has given at least $68 million in taxpayer funds this year to the parent group of Freedom 250, Trump’s preferred organization, NOTUS found.

Freedom 250 bills itself as nonpartisan, but is closely aligned with Trump. It was responsible for a massive prayer event on the National Mall in May featuring Vice President JD Vance, as well as the botched rollout of a series of concerts that were quickly canceled when most of the artists backed out because of the association with Trump. The organization is in charge of the “Great American State Fair” opening on the National Mall later this month, which Trump says he will headline with a rally and which will feature multiple days themed around “Make America Healthy Again.”

It’s not clear which events have been funded with the $68 million. Freedom 250 did not answer questions about where the money has gone.

“The Department of the Interior looks forward to celebrating Freedom 250 and saluting 250 years of American greatness alongside President Donald J. Trump - the most iconic and accomplished President in the history of our great nation,” an Interior spokesperson said in a statement to NOTUS.

America250 was established by Congress a decade ago as the official group responsible for planning for the semiquincentennial. In July last year, Congress appropriated $150 million for the 250th celebration, giving the Interior Department the power to distribute the money.

When Congress dedicated the money for the celebration, the only group responsible for planning events was America250 — Freedom 250 did not yet exist.

Trump created Freedom 250 several months later. He established it within the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit that has a special relationship with the Interior Department and takes donations from the private sector to support the National Park Service. This structure makes it difficult to know what Freedom 250 is spending money on and where the money is coming from.

A person familiar with the situation told NOTUS that Freedom 250 submits event plans and budgets to the National Park Foundation, which then works with the National Park Service to get approval for the event before funding is released. The Interior Department told NOTUS that the Park Service has significant oversight over the spending.

NOTUS identified that the Interior Department has sent taxpayer dollars to Freedom 250 by tracking grants to the National Park Foundation. As of April 29, Interior gave $68.3 million in grants to the foundation for “A250 events” and “significant events to commemorate the nation's semiquincentennial.”

In total, the National Park Foundation — and by proxy Freedom 250 — have received nearly $80 million in federal government grants related to the 250th celebration. Before the creation of Freedom 250, the National Park Foundation had received less than $8 million in total grant funding from the federal government going back to 2009.

“The National Park Foundation is responsible for ensuring compliance with all terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, including fiscal oversight to ensure Freedom 250 LLC properly distributes and accounts for project funds,” the group wrote in an FAQ explaining the relationship. 

That money is separate from the nearly $100 million that Interior and the National Park Service have spent on D.C. beautification projects, from gilding the four horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial to painting the Reflecting Pool blue to rehabilitating and repaving fountains and parks across the city.

America250, the commission created by Congress, asked lawmakers in April for $100 million more to address its “funding shortfall.”

“Our expectation from the outcome of the OBBBA passage was a dedicated $100 million out of the $150 million included in the legislation for the Semiquincentennial year celebrations and programming. In January 2026, we received $25 million of the $100 million expected. Since that time, we have not been made aware of additional funding tranches to meet this expectation,” the commission wrote in its most recent report.

Both America250 and the Trump-affiliated organization have been raising funds from the private sector to supplement taxpayer dollars. America250 acknowledged that its funding shortfall is partially related to “a competitive corporate sponsor environment.”

“The Commission is considering several legislative avenues to request additional funding from Congress as it also continues to work with the private sector for additional resources, with the understanding that there are many competing interests for other 250th activities,” the commission wrote in the report.

An America250 spokesperson told NOTUS on Monday, “We are grateful for all the support we've received from Congress, and from private organizations and individuals – and continue to work to raise the funds we need to complete our work on a celebration that is worthy of the anniversary it commemorates.”

“While it is a competitive landscape for nonprofit, cause-related, and sponsorship funding, America250 has only seen growing interest from private-sector sponsors as we approach the nation's 250th anniversary. Interest in partnering with America250 has continued to increase in recent months,” the spokesperson added.]]> https://www.notus.org/donald-trump/federal-judge-orders-removal-of-president-donald-trump-name-kennedy-center Torrie Herrington The judge also halted the planned two-year closure of the performing arts center. Fri, 29 May 2026 21:11:50 GMT https://www.notus.org/donald-trump/federal-judge-orders-removal-of-president-donald-trump-name-kennedy-center A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s name must be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and prohibited closing the center while it undergoes renovations.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered that all signage and references to the “Trump Kennedy Center” must be removed within 14 days.

"The Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so," Cooper, an Obama appointee, wrote in a 94-page decision. "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."

The center immediately said it plans to appeal Cooper’s decision.

“We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center,” Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president of public relations, said in a statement.

The ruling also blocked the planned closure of the center for two years for renovations, a move that was set to begin July 4. Cooper said any needed repairs to the building can proceed, and a closure in the future may be lawful if the center’s board is more thoroughly consulted.

“None of the board members had sufficient information in advance of the March 16 meeting to make a well-considered decision to close the center,” Cooper wrote.

Daravi said the center will “review the decision carefully” with regard to the closing prohibition.

"The Center requires an urgent and significant restoration — a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” Daravi said in a statement to NOTUS. “With $257 million secured by President Trump and approved by Congress, the resources are in place and we remain committed to pursuing every lawful avenue to ensure the Trump Kennedy Center is restored as a national cultural landmark for all Americans to enjoy.”

The center’s board voted in December to rename the institution. Several months prior, Trump fired several incumbent trustees from the board and appointed new members, including himself. The board then named him chairman of the center.

Trump posted to Truth Social later Friday that he would direct the Commerce Department to move the operation, maintenance and management of the Kennedy Center under Congress’ purview.

“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of,” Trump said in a long post about the center, adding, “We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex-officio member of the center’s board of trustees, sued Trump to block the renaming.

Beatty said in a statement late Friday that the ruling shows Trump’s actions with the center “have no basis in law.”

“The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump,” Beatty said. “He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity. I am proud to have fought for the rule of law and to protect this sacred institution."

The judge said in the opinion that there’s a long tradition of boards stocked with political supporters and personal acquaintances but that those appointed still had a duty to perform.

“By way of this opinion, the Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure, or otherwise — moving forward. It simply holds the Kennedy Center Board to certain minimum requirements imposed by law. Beyond that, the Court will let the parties play on.”

This story has been updated to include a social media post by President Trump and statement from Rep. Beatty.]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/national-park-service-dc-beautification-contracts-horse-statues Anna Kramer The Interior Department quickly gave nearly $100 million in contracts in a rush to beautify D.C. Thu, 28 May 2026 17:51:11 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/national-park-service-dc-beautification-contracts-horse-statues Four massive bronze horses positioned along the roads surrounding the Lincoln Memorial still shine in the sun from their first restoration in the 1970s. But their gold-toned coating is faded and patchy, and their heavy stone bases are cracked and dirty.

The Trump administration wants them glittering with a fresh coat of gold in time for America’s 250th anniversary on July 4. So in mid-April, the National Park Service handed a $5 million contract to a gilding studio in Maryland to repair the statues and cover them with a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf.

It awarded the project without a full competition, according to NPS documents reviewed by NOTUS.

As Trump hurries to put his stamp on a city he’s long denigrated as crumbling and ugly, his administration has doled out tens of millions of dollars for contracts with short timelines and little oversight.

In total, the Interior Department is spending at least $95 million in taxpayer funds for new D.C. beautification projects, according to a NOTUS review of government spending data. All of the projects identified by NOTUS were initiated between December 2025 and April of this year. About $20 million in contracts, including the gilding of the four horses, have not previously been reported.

“It is within the realm of reason to say: It's the 250th anniversary that’s coming up, and instead of spending a hundred million dollars we normally spend on the District of Columbia, we want to spend $250 million. That's perfectly normal,” said one former General Services Administration official, making up the dollar amounts to illustrate their point. “What is not normal is the lack of transparency.”

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In mid-April, the National Park Service hired The Gilders’ Studio in Maryland to restore the 80,000-pound statue pairs, known as the Arts of War and Arts of Peace. According to agency documentation, the gilding company is covering the statues in an unusually thick layer of nearly pure gold — heavier and purer than even the “extra-thick” gold the same studio used to refinish the exterior of the Wyoming state capital dome seven years ago.

The $5 million contract includes more work than just the gold leafing, although the gold itself is certain to be a significant part of the cost, with the price of gold essentially doubling over the last several years.

The park service did not do extensive market research on whether the $5 million price was a fair one, according to agency documents reviewed by NOTUS. “Due to the urgent nature of this requirement, market research was limited to available historical data and publicizing a special notice to SAM.gov,” the agency wrote in its award notice in April. The special notice was posted online for only six days.

“Historical data available is minimal as these types of projects are rare for NPS; there are no comparable gilding projects of this monumental size, national significance, public visibility, or technical complexity in the Washington, DC area,” the agency wrote in its award document.

The Gilders’ Studio declined to comment. Other experts on gilding told NOTUS the studio is well-known and respected for its work, but not uniquely qualified over other companies.

“There are others that are also qualified that were not contacted, which I'm rather surprised about, because there's plenty of people that could also do the same quality work,” said Peter Sepp, who runs a major gold-leaf supplier in New York.

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Several other contracting companies declined to comment, citing instructions from the NPS not to speak with the media. Multiple gilding experts declined to be named for fear of jeopardizing future relationships with the park service.

The Interior Department justified how the contract was awarded in an April document.

“Considering The Gilder's Studio INC.'s unique combination of specialized experience and capability to complete a project with extraordinary national significance and an immovable deadline demonstrates that it is the only source capable of performing this requirement,” the Interior Department wrote.

Most of the $95 million being spent on D.C. beautification is being directed toward restoring fountains and making changes to D.C.’s parks. In addition to the $5 million for the gilding project, NPS is spending $3.6 million to rehabilitate Logan Circle and more than $5 million to repave the marble around the Simón Bolivar statue, a couple of blocks off of the National Mall.

Many of the projects have ended up costing more than originally planned.

At Meridian Hill park, $4 million was spent to renew the grass and trees across the park, in addition to $11.3 million to restore the fountains that tumble down the park’s lower half. The renovations to Meridian Hill Park alone cost $800,000 more than the price quoted in the original contracts.

The Freedom Plaza beautification project, originally priced around $9 million, jumped by around $500,000 in costs in April. A month later, a dozen new statues were installed in a rectangular shape around the edges of the park, resembling pieces on a chess board.

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Many of the contracts were awarded without a full and open competition, according to the government contracting database. Instead, the Trump administration applied laws that allow contracts to be awarded to minority-owned, women-owned, or small businesses without the full rigor of an open competition.

In one case, a company that primarily does trash collection, debris removal, and HVAC repairs for the federal government landed three contracts for fountain repairs and marble repaving, worth a total of about $6.5 million that will be paid within a single year. Before this year, Manguiri Contracting had never received a contract from the federal government worth more than $1 million.

Manguiri is now responsible for removing and replacing the marble paving at Simón Bolivar park. The company will also work on pavers at the MLK Jr. Memorial, as well as repair the fountains at the John Paul Jones Memorial on the National Mall and the Taras Shevchenko Memorial near Dupont Circle.

Manguiri did not respond to request for comment.

“President Donald J. Trump is fulfilling his commitment to make D.C. Safe and Beautiful as shown by record low crime rates and renovations to fountains and parks across the capital. This administration is ensuring that Promises Made are Promises Kept. Across the District, residents and visitors are excited to see the city revitalized to the grand destination it was meant to be,” an Interior Department spokesperson said.

In the case of the four bronze horses, NPS specifically cited its desire to have the project done by July 4 as a reason to award the contract without competition. When the park service published its brief public notice of the project in April, it said that any company wanting to submit a counteroffer had to be able to finish in less than four months.

“In accordance with Executive Order (EO) 14189, Celebrating America's 250th Birthday, the NPS must have this work completed by July 4, 2026, to support DOl's role in the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” the agency wrote.

“The Arts of War statues are currently being regilded ahead of our nation's 250. This is the first time in 50 years these statues have been regilded,” an Interior spokesperson said in response to a list of questions about the project.

The statues have been slowly corroding and falling apart since they were first installed in 1951, plagued by problems that began during their construction, one local expert familiar with the statues told NOTUS. The park service made extensive repairs in the 1970s, but those did not fully address the underlying issues.

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Over the last several decades, several restoration experts have prepared reports for the Interior Department about corrosion and discoloration on the statues themselves, and about damage to their granite bases.The park service notice said that the bronze horses need cleaning, stabilization, and repairs. The statues sit on massive granite plinths, which also require repairs and stabilization.

It’s not clear whether it’s possible to fix all of these long-standing issues in the highly compressed time frame, one local expert said.

“We do know that anytime you rush something, there are always problems. Only time will tell, you know,” this person added.
]]> https://www.notus.org/republicans/bruce-springsteen-show-dc Sam Fortier Bruce Springsteen’s latest tour has been unofficially dubbed the “No Kings Tour,” putting his diehard GOP fans in a tough spot. Wed, 27 May 2026 20:00:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/republicans/bruce-springsteen-show-dc They’re talking about it at Georgetown dinner parties, in group chats called “Bruce Boys” and on sunny days at the Congressional Country Club. They’re talking about it at Prost’s happy hour, in the bleachers at Nationals Park, in security meetings at City Hall and in at least one Republican office in the Senate. Maybe they’re talking about it at the White House — how could they not be? — but if you ask the people who work in the West Wing, they get skittish or don’t respond.

“Can’t piss off Trump,” one Republican operative says, declining an interview.

“I don't think it would be a good look for me personally in my career,” says another, who declined to answer questions on the record.

On Wednesday, Bruce Springsteen brings his rousing anti-Trump roadshow to a capital city consumed by questions of loyalty under an administration that demands it. And for some Republicans, there can only be one Boss.

“We're watching Donald Trump on a revenge tour, and as incredible as it sounds, it is not out of the realm of possibility that somebody could be spotted at this concert and be told they don't need to show up for work on Monday,” said Doug Heye, a GOP consultant and perhaps the best-known Republican fan of Bruce Springsteen in the city.

While Springsteen has always been political, the “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour” – unofficially the “No Kings Tour” — is his most defiant, most focused and most direct salvo in decades. He starts and ends a three-hour setlist with reborn protest anthems, “War” and “Chimes of Freedom,” and though at 76 he’s traded his black boots for more comfortable black Hokas, his voice sounds as vivid as ever.

He urges fans to choose love over hate, truth over lies and democracy over authoritarianism. He leads the crowd in chanting “ICE out now!” He channels John Lewis in calling for “good trouble, necessary trouble.” And he uses the encore not to pacify his audiences but to demand they act.

To the more-salt-than-pepper superfans who started lining up outside Nationals Park during a downpour Friday morning — six full days before the show — The Boss is, as he says, fighting for America as “an argument.”

For Trump loyalists, though, it’s complicated. The president escalated his long-standing feud with the musician last month by calling him a “dried up prune” with “a horrible and incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” And then last week Springsteen played the next-to-last episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which was canceled because, as the Boss says, Trump can’t take a joke.

Republican fans have struggled with the tour since Springsteen announced it in February. For the first time in years, Chris Pack, a veteran Republican strategist, found it difficult to put off his chiding friends with the regular refrain about compartmentalizing the politics and appreciating the music.

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Early on, Pack, a longtime fan, bought tickets for a couple shows anyway. Springsteen was 76, and his daughter Lydia was 8. He cherished videos of baby Lydia dancing to “Nightshift,” and he made her first concert a Springsteen show in ’24. You never know how many more times you’ll get to do this, he told himself.

Out of love and trepidation, Pack subscribed to nugs.net, which livestreams concerts, and started following the tour. Springsteen intentionally kicked off in Minneapolis, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles, places beset by raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His forceful speeches led Time magazine to call it one of “the most unflinching acts of musical and theatrical resistance mounted against Donald Trump—or any president, for that matter—in the nation’s history.”

One afternoon, Pack and his daughter were listening to a show in the backyard and throwing a Nerf football. His wife came outside, Pack remembered, and heard one of the speeches in which Springsteen criticized federal immigration agents for killing two people in Minneapolis.

“Whoa, what is she listening to?” his wife said.

She wasn’t wrong, he thought.

“You shouldn't be taught that police officers all kill people and murder people in cold blood,” he told NOTUS later.

Pack decided to take Lydia to the bathroom during the most political parts of the show. But days later, he listened to a recording of Springsteen opening a show in New York with his monologue about how his beloved country was in the grips of a “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless and treasonous administration.”

Pack listed his three Cleveland tickets for sale, and within 90 minutes, they were gone.

He took a loss, he said. But he didn’t care because he was standing up for friends in the administration who “don’t have a racist bone in their body.” He didn’t want to explain to his daughter why Springsteen insulted “people who were there for me during some of the lowest points in my life.”

Later, other Republicans echoed Pack’s criticisms of the tour. “Dark,” “divisive,” “vulgar.” They called Springsteen a class traitor, pointing out a significant portion of the working class voted for Trump, and they called him a hypocrite because he spent the show bashing the administration and then ended it by lamenting the yawning distance between neighbors.

“We sit with people at the ballpark, and they say, ‘I'm not going to that,’” said Tom Davis, a former Republican congressman from Virginia. “The guy's a college dropout. I don't need to hear him lecturing me about democracy.”

During a phone interview, Davis turned to his wife, Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, a former Republican politician in Virginia, and asked if she wanted to go to the Springsteen show at Nats Park.

“I’d rather be shot in the head,” she said.

One chief of staff to a Republican in the Senate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, conducted a small, impromptu poll of Springsteen fans on his staff. Two didn’t care about the musician’s politics, two did. It’s “puzzling that Springsteen doesn’t much care about possibly offending some of his long-time fans,” one of them said, according to the chief.

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Other Republicans seemed to believe the safest move was keeping quiet. None of the three GOP lawmakers who represent New Jersey in Congress responded to requests for comment. Neither did spokespeople for the White House or for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the most famous Republican Springsteen fan of them all.

Christie, who’s been to 180 shows, was backstage earlier this month in Brooklyn and at Madison Square Garden. In Brooklyn, Christie went viral after it appeared that Springsteen snubbed him by walking by without shaking his hand. But the musician’s longtime manager told Rolling Stone the idea of a rift between the two was “absurd.”

In the pit line for the best floor seats, which grew to 50, then 100, then 250 over the long weekend, fans buzzed about whether Springsteen might have something special planned in Trump’s backyard. And while many were liberal Americans, the line was also full of tourists from all over the world who described feeling generally dispassionate about U.S. politics until forced to interact with them on this tour.

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Jamie and Dawn Haydon, a Scottish couple, half-jokingly said they were nervous to tell the border patrol agent at the airport why they were here.

Greg Balind, a superfan from Australia whose email starts with the phrase “trampslikeus,” didn’t consider himself political, but specifically bought tickets for this show because the setting felt poignant. “America needs this, I think,” he said. “Watching from afar — you see it on our TVs, certainly every night — it’s in despair.”

Pablo Garcia, a Spanish man who lives in Indiana, arrived early enough to get No. 23. But on Sunday night, he got an email telling him to report to Kentucky on Tuesday for biometric tests as part of his application for a green card.

He asked his lawyer if he could reschedule it.

“This is not the dentist,” the lawyer said.

Garcia flew to Indiana, drove to Kentucky, gave his fingerprints and then drove back to D.C. He arrived at 2 a.m. Wednesday but lost his place in line.

Underneath the warmth of anticipation in the pit line was some of the same anger Springsteen channels onstage — and they focused on something the musician hadn’t said much about.

Many in line paid $500 or more for these tickets. They bemoaned the Department of Justice’s recent settlement with Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, which stopped what could’ve led to a breakup of the company under antitrust law. They bemoaned Springsteen’s participation in “dynamic pricing,” in which Live Nation’s algorithms used the tour’s popularity to drive the cost of floor seats into the thousands. They contrasted the coldness of the corporation with the warmth of Springsteen, negotiating the private tension of their own fandom.

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As the D.C. show drew closer, some Republican fans remained unsure about whether to attend. They jokingly called themselves “closeted” and worried a mention on TMZ DC or in an insider newsletter like Politico Playbook would lead to retribution from the White House. They worried the feud between Springsteen and Trump would somehow escalate from social-media posts into real-world violence.

The Metropolitan Police Department did not anticipate an increased chance of violence and made no special security plans for this show, a spokesperson said.

One Republican who harbored no doubts about whether he’d attend was Heye, the consultant and longtime Trump critic.

“I can pump my fist to ‘Badlands’ and not have a concern in the world,” he said. “If putting on the red hat means you need to be nervous about going to rock concerts, then there are probably other issues at hand.”]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/trump-arts-panel-approves-arch-plans Adora Brown A fine arts panel approved the plan for the 250-foot arch in D.C., months after the president replaced all the commission’s members with his own appointees. Thu, 21 May 2026 19:19:23 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/trump-arts-panel-approves-arch-plans President Donald Trump’s proposed construction of a towering arch in Washington, D.C., cleared an administrative hurdle Thursday, as the Commission of Fine Arts approved the design for the new structure at the center of Memorial Circle.

The proposed 250-foot triumphal arch would include a white granite facade and golden statues on the top. The architect – Nicolas Charbonneau, a principal architect at Harrison Designs – presented a toned-down version of the design that removed golden lion statues from the front as the commission had requested in a previous hearing.

The original plan also included a tunnel system, which the commission said brought too many potential security issues. On Thursday, the Interior Department presented a model with crosswalks across Memorial Circle that would make the monument accessible to pedestrians.

The fine arts commission, which considers plans for monuments and other D.C. projects, gave its expected approval months after Trump overhauled the panel with his appointees. The National Capital Planning Commission is scheduled to review the plans for the arch in early June.

Despite the design changes, members of the general public and institutional leaders largely condemned the construction of the monument.

“This vista is one of the most symbolic landscape vistas in Washington, D.C., and was designed to represent the post-Civil War reconciliation between the northern states and the southern states,” Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said at the hearing.

Others who spoke Thursday said they were concerned about the arch dwarfing the nearby memorials, in size and meaning. The arch would sit between several monuments and spaces intended for posterity, reflection and memorializing the dead. Trump’s arch, however, is a celebration that many speakers at Thursday’s meeting did not welcome.

“The intent of the arch is a celebration of America and 250 years of greatness, freedom and posterity, for which we can only thank the wisdom of our founders and God's providence,” Charbonneau said. “It is not primarily a monument dedicated to the dead, but to the living, to this great country and its endurance.”

The commission received 600 letters from the general public about the proposed arch, with only one letter that was fully in support, according to the commission’s secretary, Thomas Luebke.

Trump told reporters on Thursday he was happy to receive good news about the arch, which has been the subject of several legal challenges, including over whether Congress would need to approve it. The administration has repeatedly cited a century-old report for the Arlington Memorial Bridge that called for two 166-foot columns. They were never built, and now the Justice Department argues that when Congress ratified the bridge in 1925, it also approved the arch. When asked if he needed congressional approval, the president responded that the land is owned by the Interior Department.

“We don’t need anything from Congress,” he added.]]> https://www.notus.org/climate-environment/air-force-jet-fuel-leak-maryland-disclosure-investigation Anna Kramer The Maryland Air Force facility lost roughly 32,000 gallons of fuel between December and April. Wed, 06 May 2026 09:01:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/climate-environment/air-force-jet-fuel-leak-maryland-disclosure-investigation At some point this year, personnel at Joint Base Andrews realized they were missing tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel.

The base’s fuel system had failed a leak safety test in early December. In January and February, it had lost about 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, but staff believed the leak was contained to the base. Then on March 23, someone on the base spotted oil on the freshwater creek that starts on the sprawling Prince George’s County, Maryland military facility.

That day the Defense Department finally called the state.

For an unknown period of time, jet fuel had been spilling into the Piscataway Creek, which feeds into the Potomac River.

Late March was the first time the state of Maryland had heard of any issues at the base, despite strict state regulations that require the facility to immediately disclose leaks. It took roughly two more weeks for the Defense Department to disclose the full extent of the spillage — this one from a second leak in the system.

In all, the base, which houses Air Force One, has lost about 32,000 gallons of jet fuel between the two leaks. No one knows exactly how much of that fuel has contaminated the creek.

Now, Maryland regulators and the state’s congressional delegation want to know why the Defense Department took so long to tell them something was wrong.

“There’s an equation with a lot of blank spaces that have to be filled in,” said Adam Ortiz, the deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. “That’s why the rules are what they are. People are supposed to report immediately.”

NOTUS obtained 26 pages of Maryland’s inspection documents for the jet-fuel leak at Joint Base Andrews, which include reviews of the base’s records. The previously unreported documents reveal that the base for months failed to disclose fuel safety issues at their facilities — problems that ultimately led to serious environmental pollution.

“Efforts to properly control, contain, and clean up the release of fuel have been minimal and insufficient,” Maryland’s inspectors wrote in an April 15 report. “Deadlines are now considered past due.”

Maryland learned about the failed December test in late March and early April, after someone at Joint Base Andrews noticed an oil sheen on the creek and the smell of petroleum. The base reported the spill to the state that same day.

“The Air Force is currently investigating actions surrounding the reported December 11 pressure test failure,” a Joint Base Andrews spokesperson told NOTUS. “More information will be provided once the investigation is complete.”

This is the second time in less than six months that Maryland officials have been at odds with the Trump administration over pollution impacting the local waterways. About three months ago, the Trump administration attacked Maryland over a sewage spill in the Potomac River — one that occurred on a pipe overseen by the federal government.

Luckily, in both cases, Maryland has escaped a public health crisis; the leak from Joint Base Andrews happened south of the drinking water intakes for D.C. and Maryland. But yet again, the infrastructure failure in this situation exacerbated serious environmental problems.

It also created yet another tension point between Maryland officials and the Trump administration over how to jointly govern land around the nation’s capital. No one has a clear picture yet of how much it will cost to clean the fuel up, multiple sources in state offices told NOTUS.

“Maryland Department of the Environment and Joint Base Andrews are collaborating on methods to identify the full extent of the plume. It is an iterative and ongoing effort,” the Joint Base Andrews spokesperson said.

Maryland’s federal lawmakers — with the exception of the delegation’s sole Republican, Rep. Andy Harris — sent a letter asking the base the same question the state regulators did: What caused the delay in reporting the extent of the spill?

“Please provide a detailed timeline of when each leak was first detected, internally reported, and externally communicated,” reads the lawmakers’ letter to the Air Force, which Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office shared with NOTUS.

The Environmental Protection Agency deployed staff to assess the condition of Piscataway Creek on March 25, the agency said. “Containment measures were working as intended, no oil or oil sheen was observed migrating off site,” an EPA spokesperson said in a statement to NOTUS.

But after the EPA’s site visit, the initial containment measures failed twice during heavy rainfall, according to Maryland officials.

The base told NOTUS that it then installed more “robust” containment measures that “held through heavy rain on April 19 and during subsequent rain events,” a spokesperson said.

“Joint Base Andrews has been taking appropriate actions to contain and clean up the spill on their property,” the EPA spokesperson said.

In late April, water samples tested by Maryland regulators both on and off of the base showed evidence of toxic chemicals that are associated with petroleum products.

A team of contractors on the base has been trying to suck out the leaked fuel from the contaminated zone, but the state of Maryland says it still doesn’t know much has been gathered so far.

Maryland inspectors balked at the methods the Defense Department initially used to measure how much fuel had been removed from the creek. “JBA and their contractors have failed to properly evaluate recovered petroleum impacted liquids to permit quantification of liquid phase hydrocarbon (LPH) recovery,” an April 15 inspection document read, calling the techniques used by the base “not a proper method.”

The state says it still has far more questions than answers.

“JBA has failed to provide the total amount of [liquid phase hydrocarbon] recovered. JBA has failed to document the daily and cumulative totals of LPH recovered in the daily reports,” the regulators said in the internal report.

“The fuel response contractor is measuring the amount of jet fuel on the surface of the recovered water and providing these data to MDE daily since April 18,” the JBA spokesperson said.

Maryland regulators have not regularly dealt with significant jet-fuel leaks from airports or military bases. The most recent leak of comparable size occurred in Hawaii in 2021, when the Defense Department spilled about 20,000 gallons of jet fuel into an aquifer that led to a monthslong drinking water crisis.

The communities alongside Piscataway Creek have long had to deal with environmental pollution from Joint Base Andrews. The firefighting foam the military uses for training and emergencies has left behind forever chemicals that require costly and complex cleanups. That has yet to happen.

A spokesperson for Joint Base Andrews did not provide any details about the timeline for PFAS cleanup. Trump’s Defense Department has delayed forever chemical cleanup timelines across the country, The New York Times reported.

Since 2021, Maryland has advised against eating fish from Piscataway Creek, putting limits in place after researchers found unusually high concentrations of forever chemicals in multiple species.

The concentrations were so high that people involved in the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, a nonprofit organization that monitors the health of the Potomac River Basin, told NOTUS that they worry that the advisories do not go far enough to educate the public about the risks.

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network is concerned about the environmental effects from both the jet fuel spill and from PFAS, and they are especially worried about the slow communication from the Defense Department.

“Maryland is saying that the Air Force was very late — weeks, possibly months — in notifying the state. For us, that is really troubling,” said David Flores, the vice president and general counsel for the network.

“We have been, and remain, really concerned about PFAS contamination,” Flores said. “Especially here, where there are so many people living near the base at the fence line, with people using a waterway that was affected by PFAS unequivocally in Piscataway Creek. I think our expectation is that there would be a sense of urgency on the part of the Air Force and the federal government as a whole to address the contamination.”

With the fish consumption advisory already in place and the National Park Service already prohibiting swimming in Piscataway Creek, officials have not had to assess whether to put limits in place based solely on the jet-fuel leak.

State officials are now confident that jet fuel is no longer leaking directly into the creek. But they also don’t know the precise location of the leaked fuel, how much of it has sunk into the soil, or what exactly went wrong with the fuel system in the first place. Until they get those answers, both regulators and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network are concerned about jet fuel continuing to seep into the groundwater from underneath the base. The base sits on the headwaters of Piscataway Creek, meaning that water bubbles up from springs in the earth and feeds the creek somewhere nearby or underneath where the jet fuel leaked into the ground.

Because there is no map of the headwaters and no map yet of where the jet fuel has contaminated the soil, there‘s no way to know what the future risks are for the surrounding environment and for the Potomac River.

“The community is unquestionably an overburdened community from a pollution standpoint. So it’s incumbent on us and the base to have a higher sensitivity and to go the extra mile because this community certainly has had more than its fair share of pollution,” Ortiz said.

“We’re working closely with the command staff to ensure more timely and accurate reporting going forward to meet the state’s standards,” he added.]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/judge-trump-plans-d-c-golf-closure Reese Gorman Judge Ana Reyes expressed skepticism that the government’s plans to close and revamp East Potomac course were still in its early stages. Mon, 04 May 2026 15:13:07 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/judge-trump-plans-d-c-golf-closure A federal judge pumped the brakes on the Trump administration’s plans to close East Potomac Golf Links and begin deferred maintenance on Monday morning.

Over the weekend, NOTUS reported that the administration planned to close the course on Sunday after the final tee time to start deferred maintenance ahead of a complete renovation. This led the DC Preservation League and its partners in the suit — the watchdog group Democracy Forward — to request an emergency stay to prevent the closure.

While Judge Ana Reyes did not grant the emergency relief the group sought, she directed the administration to get court approval before cutting down more than 10 trees and to provide proper notice if it plans to close the course.

“Let’s just say, given some issues around the District recently, I would have a particular concern that we not act first and ask forgiveness later,” the judge said. “Because that’s not going to be acceptable and I want you to make sure that that’s fully communicated to the agency. If anything like that happens, there are going to be serious consequences.”

In a filing, the administration confirmed NOTUS’ reporting, saying it had plans to “begin initial deferred maintenance and repair activities on May 4.”

When asked by the judge if there were plans to close the course, attorneys for the administration did not directly answer the question, instead saying, “No closure notice has been issued ... but it's still under consideration at this point."

An opposing attorney interjected, saying, “I didn't hear a 'No,' your honor!”

The course’s future remains uncertain following the hearing, as the government did not concede its plans to close the course, and in its filing, said: “A decision to close the course is within my authority under and, if exercised, will be appropriately documented.”

The judge expressed skepticism that the government's plans for the course takeover were still in the early stages and that there were no finalized plans to shut down the course.

“I think it's further along than has been identified in the pleadings to date," Reyes said, regarding the administration's plans to take over East Potomac.

As of Monday morning, the course was open for play.

]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/east-potomac-golf-course-takeover Reese Gorman Major renovations to the East Potomac Golf Links will start later, but the course will shut down after the final tee time on Sunday. Sat, 02 May 2026 00:19:10 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/east-potomac-golf-course-takeover The Trump administration will officially take over the East Potomac Golf Links on Sunday and will begin renovations, two sources familiar with the plans told NOTUS.

On Monday, landscaping, deferred maintenance and tree-clearing work in line with the National Park Service’s pre-approved plans will commence, the sources said. The major renovations at the course will start later, once a design is approved by the NPS and all legal compliance has been met. Golf course architect Tom Fazio is expected to lead the renovations, a source told NOTUS.

The National Links Trust, which previously had a lease and controlled the East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek golf courses, is being offered a renewed lease for Rock Creek, a source told NOTUS. The offer would include a waiver of unpaid rent for the trust to use for course improvements. NLT told NOTUS that they have not been offered any renewed lease for Rock Creek Park Golf from the administration.

"This news was a complete surprise to us. We have also not received any offer of a lease at Rock Creek Park Golf. For the sake of our community and employees, we hope to have clarity as soon as possible," a spokesperson said. "We remain committed to our mission, our community, and working to protect the public golf courses in Washington, DC for the benefit of the entire community."

The Washington Post reported earlier on Friday that the Trump administration approached the Washington Commanders about taking over the Langston Golf Course. Trump has made reshaping and renovating many of Washington’s landmarks and public spaces a central focus of his second term.

“President Donald J. Trump is fulfilling his commitment to make D.C. Safe and Beautiful as shown by record low crime rates and renovations to fountains across the capital,” an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“DOI and NPS are committed to continuing the relationships we have built with the local golf communities to ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable, accessible, and world-class for people living in and visiting the greatest capital city in the world,” the spokesperson added, pitching “affordability” as a key selling point of the project.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story has been updated with a statement from the National Links Trust.]]> https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/trump-dc-bike-lane-cars Emily Kennard The portion of the bike lane is safe for now thanks to court intervention, but it’s emblematic of a broader push against bike infrastructure across the country. Wed, 22 Apr 2026 21:16:43 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/trump-dc-bike-lane-cars A planned protest to stop the destruction of a key portion of Washington’s 15th Street bike lane turned into a victory lap after a judge ruled in favor of the cyclists in a lawsuit that pitted them against the Trump administration.

“Oh, yeah, thank you!” a cyclist shouted at the crowd from the saved bike path Tuesday afternoon just east of the Washington Monument, hours after the decision. Another gave a thumbs up, yelling, “Good win!”

It’s unclear whether the legal battle over this particular bike lane, which connects cyclists south of Constitution Avenue around the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial into Virginia, is truly over. But the local fight is just one front in a broader campaign waged by the Trump administration to scale back bike infrastructure across the U.S.

Amid soaring gas prices, the Trump administration launched its “Freedom to Drive” initiative Monday, a national effort to reduce traffic congestion and gridlock. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to every governor, asking them to make plans “to recover roadway capacity from other purposes to support driving.”

The administration’s case against this bike lane was hinged on the argument that refashioning it would help traffic, since an expanded road would allow more cars. In a statement to news outlets last month about the removal, a Federal Highway Administration spokesperson said the removal was part of a broader effort “to restore common sense into city planning.”

“They will certainly continue to try efforts like this,” Charles Allen, a city council member who serves as chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, told NOTUS after the court’s decision. “I've learned that this administration, they use the phrase ‘common sense’ when they know that what they're saying is wrong.”

“Putting and pushing more cars onto our streets only will increase congestion and make it harder to get around, and that's not good, and it will also only increase dangerous conditions on our roadways,” Allen continued.

Duffy put the Federal Highway Administration in charge of the Freedom to Drive initiative.

“We are going to use every tool in the Federal toolbox to fix this, and we want you in the driver's seat with us. We will make our roadways the envy of the world again by maximizing existing roadway capacity,” Duffy wrote to the governors. “FHWA will support your progress, provide access to additional tools and resources, and recognize meaningful achievements. We can solve this, and for the sake of the American family, we must.”

In anticipation of the Trump administration setting its sights on bike infrastructure, the League of American Bicyclists is mobilizing its supporters.

“We thought, this is gonna become a national effort,” said Caron Whitaker, the League of American Bicyclists’ deputy executive director. “Studies have shown adding capacity only works for a little while. Then, the congestion comes back. Taking out bike lanes doesn’t help. His solutions don’t beat the problem.”

Studies about safety and traffic congestion did little to influence the decision-making of federal officials, at least in the District of Columbia.

“It’s this ongoing, sort of impetuous behavior from the administration, where there's like some political dogma, like, ‘cars are king,’ or whatever it might be, ‘fossil fuels are king.’ And they just make these rash decisions, and they aren't necessarily based on any sort of data or science, and certainly not safety,” said Gabe Klein, a former District Department of Transportation director and now a transportation and urban planning consultant.

“It's very frustrating for somebody who cares a lot about safety, because it's very apparent to me that these people don't care about safety. This is worse for cars, worse for cyclists, worse for pedestrians,” Klein added.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

DDOT published a study this year showing that the protected lane on 15th Street reduced traffic congestion, increased traffic speeds and also reduced crashes and injuries. Two other former DDOT officials told NOTUS that the Trump administration’s removal of the bike lane would have put people in harm’s way.

Though the administration’s lawyers argued in court that the study had methodological problems, they didn’t provide data that contradicted the local government’s, which the judge took issue with in her 61-page opinion.

Public officials in the area were relieved after the decision.

“It’s shameful that it took a court decision for the Trump Administration to leave in place a bike lane that saves lives, prevents injuries and speeds up commute times across the National Mall,” Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat representing Arlington, Virginia, who co-authored a letter to the National Parks Service last month asking it to halt the project, said in a statement to NOTUS.

Back at the 15th Street bike lane, bells rang and cyclists’ wheels collectively click-click-clicked like a swarm of insects as locals gathered on a stretch of green in front of the Washington Monument Lodge. Many held signs and wore shirts with the phrase “bike lanes save lives.”

The part of the lane at risk was set for destruction as soon as this week, after the Trump administration decided to turn it into another car lane in preparation for major semiquincentennial events in the city this year, including an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight on the White House South Lawn in June and an IndyCar race around the National Mall in August.

Elizabeth Kiker, the executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, which brought the suit against the Trump administration, celebrated with the cyclists on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t sure we’d win. I’ve read a lot of lawsuits by a lot of people suing this administration, and a lot of people didn’t win, but we did!” she shouted through a megaphone. “If you say it’s for safety, guess what? You have to evaluate it for safety. We win that. If you say it’s for speed, you have to evaluate it for speed. And we win that too.”

The Department of Justice didn’t respond to an inquiry about whether it would appeal the court’s decision. The federal government could also eventually proceed with the removal, so long as the agencies follow the usual administrative procedures, which the judge found they skipped over in this case.

Plus, the federal government has jurisdiction over many more roadways in the city: If it wanted to make more room for cars, it could try on other streets.

Since Trump took office, billions of dollars across thousands of transit infrastructure projects, including those for bicycles, have been held up or canceled, according to Transportation for America. The DOT sent a memo in March of last year ordering a review of all federal funds awarded for bike infrastructure.

Bike lane proponents point to studies showing that road infrastructure separating different modes of transportation makes travel safer and easier for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike. The DOT even posts research on its website demonstrating as much.

“‘Common sense’ is anything that gets more people home safely at the end of the day, and that means making sure that everybody, regardless of how you choose to move or travel throughout the day, has safe accommodations to do so,” said Heidi Simon, a director at Smart Growth America, a nonprofit that advocates for multi-modal transportation policies.

“That means making sure that our roads are designed to accommodate the way that people actually move, and not the way that people think we should move, which seems, in the case of the Trump administration, to be personally owned vehicles,” Simon said.
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