President Donald Trump has consistently sought to mandate the look of federal buildings, and his affinity for classical styles is well-documented. Since his first mention of the idea, during his first term as president, a group of senators have been right behind the proposed legislation and executive orders with their own law, the Democracy in Design Act, that aims to keep the status quo: There ought to be no single style for the design of federal buildings.
This legislation is now met with the announcement of an opposing law. On Friday, September 19, Senator Jim Banks, who represents Indiana, published a Fox News op-ed that states that he is looking to codify Trump’s recent mandate with legislation with amendments that include allowing for public input in the design of federal buildings. Banks’s coauthor in the op-ed is Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society and former chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
The Democracy in Design Act
Where Trump’s recent executive order rewrites the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, the Democracy in Design Act ensures its preservation. Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada introduced the Democracy in Design Act to the House of Representatives in 2020, with the hope the legislation would codify the GSA’s Design Excellence Program principles into law to stop a president from changing them in executive order.
In 2021, Joe Biden, early in his presidency, revoked the previous Trump administration’s December 21, 2020 executive order that mandated classical architecture for federal buildings. Now Trump has reinstated the decree, and the same senators who have been behind the Democracy in Design Act for years, which at one point had bipartisan support, are again pushing for a diversity in the architectural style applied to federal buildings.
Senator Van Hollen, a Democrat representing Maryland, is one of the long-time supporters of the Democracy in Design Act. He said in a statement, on September 18, “There should not be a one-size-fits-all mandate for the design of federal architecture. This legislation will help ensure that federal buildings reflect the diversity of our nation and the American people, and meet the needs of the communities they serve.”
The AIA shared its disagreement over the recent executive order mandating classical architecture for federal buildings. This week, it also weighed in this week on the reintroduced Democracy in Design Act. In a statement, 2025 AIA President, Evelyn Lee said, “The Democracy in Design Act ensures that America’s public buildings reflect the people they serve rather than conforming to a single mandated style. By advancing this legislation, [the senators] are helping to ensure that architecture continues to tell the dynamic, inclusive, and authentic story of who we are as a nation.”
The (Forthcoming!) Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act
Senator Banks wrote that he will introduce the Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act. It will codify Trump’s recent executive order.
Banks said his legislation “doesn’t mandate any specific style for buildings across the country—it only requires a preference for classical and traditional architecture designs, which include everything from neoclassical to art deco to Romanesque to Pueblo revival.” He added that the bill will also require federal agencies to seek public input on the design of federal buildings.
After mentioning examples of classical architecture realized during the first 150 years of the country, the authors state that “starting in the 1960s, our national government stopped prioritizing beautiful buildings.” They also mention (but do not name) Thom Mayne of Morphosis, the architect of the Nancy Pelosi San Francisco Federal Building, and describe the structure as a “bizarre art project.”
Banks describes the battle over architectural style as “not just about aesthetics and beauty,” but also “Western values: who we are, who we wish to be as a nation.”
Banks also said his legislation is upcoming. Proposed text for his act is not yet available.
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