Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that he is spearheading an inquiry into whether National Park Service (NPS) entrance fees are being funneled to what he calls President Trump's "vanity projects" in Washington, D.C., rather than toward maintaining the nation's parks.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Schiff and 10 other senators argued that visitors' payments for recreation passes and digital versions of the America the Beautiful Pass are supposed to support park upkeep under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act. That law requires at least 80% of entry fees to stay within the parks, with the remaining 20% available for agency-wide use.
"Rather than distribute these fee revenues back to our national parks and public lands, it appears that the Department of the Interior has redirected fee revenues to pay for President Trump's vanity projects around Washington, D.C.," the senators wrote.
The lawmakers cited reports that NPS has spent $60 million in fee revenue to repair nine fountains in the capital, plus an additional $7 million for the recently completed renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. They noted that the reflecting pool work involved a no-bid contract that increased costs by more than $13 million. These projects are part of a broader effort to spruce up the capital ahead of the nation's 250th birthday, as Trump pushes for a legacy of visible improvements.
The senators expressed concern that the diversion of funds could deprive individual parks of millions of dollars. "The redistribution of revenues to D.C. projects could mean multiple millions of dollars lost for individual national parks around the country," they wrote, pointing to crumbling walls and other deferred maintenance needs across the system.
They also demanded transparency on several points: whether fee revenues are funding D.C. renovations, how much NPS stands to lose, and a full accounting of all projects awarded funds by the Interior Department. "The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public's trust and the long-term integrity of our nation's most beloved public lands," the senators concluded.
The letter was signed by Schiff, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.).
An Interior Department spokesperson did not address the inquiry directly but defended the projects. "We should all be grateful to President Trump for making Washington, D.C. Safe and Beautiful again," the spokesperson said in a statement. "D.C. residents and visitors are experiencing working fountains across the district for the first time in decades, all thanks to President Donald J. Trump. The Department has many funding sources available to spend on deferred maintenance."
Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, criticized the prioritization. "We know that there are walls crumbling in parks out there, so it's not that fountains aren't deserving, but when it's a true triage situation, because Congress has not funded our parks, it's harder to argue that we should be turning fountains on when there are really severe maintenance needs all across the park system," he told The Hill. Weiss previously described the projects as "Trump's vanity projects and the stuff that he can see from his golden throne off the Lincoln Bedroom."
The Hill reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response. The inquiry adds to a growing list of congressional oversight efforts targeting Trump administration spending priorities, as the president also faces scrutiny over his embrace of prediction markets and other controversial moves.
