Money Grab/Give government contracts to family and donors
Park Service gives ballroom builder Clark a $17.4M no-bid fountain contract
In January 2026 the National Park Service awarded Clark Construction, the lead builder of the White House ballroom, a sole-source contract of about $11.9 million to restore two fountains in Lafayette Park, invoking the “urgency” exception to competitive bidding. The award grew to about $17.4 million.
What happened
Lafayette Park faces the White House across Pennsylvania Avenue, and in 2022 the National Park Service estimated that restoring its two ornamental fountains would cost about $3.3 million. In January 2026 the Park Service gave the job to Clark Construction, the company building Trump’s ballroom, for about $11.9 million, without seeking other bids. It invoked an “urgency” exception meant for emergencies. As work was added the award grew to about $17.4 million.
The New York Times reported the contract on April 25, 2026. The person who prepared the 2022 estimate said officials had taken his cover page and “added a bunch of money.” A trade publication searched SAM.gov, where federal awards and sole-source justifications are posted, and found no record of the contract.
Senator Blumenthal wrote to the Park Service and to Clark’s chief executive on May 4, 2026. Representative Torres asked the Interior Department’s inspector general to investigate on May 7. The Park Service’s answer to senators’ questions about the ballroom in April 2026 had given no figures at all.
Who benefited
Clark Construction was already building the ballroom under a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million. It was then handed a second no-bid job next door, at about five times the government’s own $3.3 million estimate.
Who wanted something
Trump wanted the park in front of his ballroom finished to match. Park Service officials found a way to give the work to the builder he had already chosen. “Urgency” was the available exception to competitive bidding, so urgency was declared.
Who lost out
Taxpayers paid roughly $14 million more than the estimated cost of the work. Any contractor who might have bid never had the chance. SAM.gov, where the public is supposed to be able to see sole-source awards and their justifications, carries no record of the contract.
Why it matters
This was ordinary public works, in a public park, paid for with appropriated money, steered to the president’s builder without competition and without the public notice the law requires. The ballroom contract could at least be called a private project. The fountain contract could not.
Sources Sen. Richard Blumenthal (primary)Rep. Ritchie Torres (primary)ENRThe New York Times