Former HUD headquarters, Cohen Building, and two other historic federal buildings may be demolished

Four historic Washington, D.C. buildings may be demolished by the Trump administration, per a court declaration filed yesterday.

The four buildings are: the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building designed by Marcel Breuer, where HUD has historically been headquartered; the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building by Charles Z. Klauder, known for its Ben Shahn mural; the General Services Administration (GSA) Regional Office Building by Charles Butler; and the Liberty Loan Building by Cass Gilbert.

Wright, a former White House and GSA employee, was testifying in regard to proposed changes to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB). In November, Cultural Heritage Partners, a preservation law firm, filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and is now trying to thwart the Trump administration’s proposed alterations to the EEOB together with the DC Preservation League.

HUD vacated its Breuer-designed headquarters this past summer with plans to move into a new building in Alexandria, Virginia, as reported by AN. The GSA has been ordered to terminate leases at 7,500 properties—including Mies van der Rohe, Paul Rudolph, and Victor Lundy buildings—as part of the government’s new “accelerated disposals” process.

“Advancing in the Dark”

The Trump administration is allegedly organizing private contracts outside of the GSA, the agency tasked with maintaining government buildings. As a National Historic Landmark the EEOB, and any renovation work it undergoes, is subject to Section 106 and Section 110(f) of the NHPA, Wright explained.

“The President is not free to step around that framework by treating a federal building as personal property—privately ‘getting bids’ from painters or directing subordinates to move a project forward outside the law,” the plaintiffs said in regard to the EEOB’s proposed alterations, before adding: “Meanwhile, the White House has made plain the President does not view himself as bound by ordinary statutory guardrails. The record shows an active project advancing in the dark, without the public processes Congress required.”

In a supplemental declaration reviewed by AN, Wright said this is all without precedent. “For the first time of which I am aware,” Wright noted, “a President is personally involved in facilitating end-runs around the agency’s obligations to the buildings that are our national heritage, and who in the agency is going to tell him ‘no’?” Wright was the founding director of the EEOB Preservation Office and launched a maintenance program for the building.

Following yesterday’s court hearing, the judge ordered the defendants to file a response or supplemental declaration addressing the demolition plans of the four buildings mentioned by Wright. The judge indicated she may issue a written or oral ruling on the matter in the coming days.

Living New Deal, a nonprofit that spreads awareness about the New Deal’s cultural legacy, is fighting to save the Cohen Building from demolition. “The Social Security Building was renamed the Wilbur J. Cohen Building in honor of one of the architects of the Social Security Act and Medicare and Medicaid. It is a symbol of the government providing for the welfare of all Americans,” Living New Deal assistant director Mary Okin affirmed.

This news comes just days after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced “a new initiative to explore the revitalization of Washington Dulles International Airport,” whose main hall and control tower was designed by Eero Saarinen. The initiative may “replace or build on the existing main terminal [by Saarinen] and satellite concourses” at Dulles.

Judith Levine, of the Today in Fascism Substack, was prompted by this fusillade to publish a recent op-ed in The Guardian about how Trump is “offloading historic gems” to remake Washington, D.C. align with his administration’s “values.”