Trump picks leader for federal agency overseeing his D.C. hotel
President Donald Trump has installed the head of the agency that has to decide whether to evict him from his Washington hotel.
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, an Obama-appointed General Services Administration official named Norman Dong became acting administrator, according to an agency email obtained by POLITICO. Seven and a half hours later, Trump replaced Dong with Tim Horne a Denver-based GSA official who had coordinated the agency’s transition with the Trump team, a second email showed.
Democrats are already pressuring Horne to terminate the GSA’s lease for Trump’s hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue because a line in the contract arguably prohibits it from benefiting an elected official. The GSA hasn’t indicated what it will do, but the fact that the agency’s chief now owes his position to Trump cements the conflict of interest — effectively making the president both landlord and tenant.
The reason for the whiplash isn’t clear. It appears the GSA’s outgoing leadership wanted Dong to take over temporarily but Trump preferred Horne.
Horne has worked at the GSA since 1993, most recently as Rocky Mountain regional commissioner of the Public Buildings Service. His Colorado voter registration does not indicate a party affiliation.
“Tim Horne has served at GSA for 24 years,” White House spokeswoman Kelly Love said. “We have great faith in his ability to lead the GSA on an acting basis until a permanent Administrator is confirmed by the Senate.”
Love did not answer questions about why Dong initially became acting administrator. Trump has not yet nominated a permanent replacement.
The first email said Dong would serve until the Senate confirmed the president’s choice for a permanent administrator. It also said he would continue in his role as commissioner of public buildings, in charge of the division that owns and leases federal buildings including Trump’s hotel.
Since joining the GSA in March 2014, Dong was involved in the Trump hotel project and was photographed with Trump at the groundbreaking. In the photo, Trump is smiling and giving a thumbs-up.
Dong, former GSA administrator Denise Turner Roth, a GSA spokeswoman and the Trump Organization didn’t answer requests for comment.
Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings, Peter DeFazio, Gerry Connolly and André Carson, sent Horne a letter on Monday asking how the GSA is addressing the conflict of interest. In particular, the Democrats want to know whether the GSA has sent or will send Trump a notice of breach of contract.
Trump would then have 30 days to resolve the breach or be evicted. He could then appeal to either the U.S. Court of Federal Claims or the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, an independent tribunal that resolves contract disputes involving executive branch agencies.
Trump’s lawyer argued his client hasn’t broken the terms of the lease because, while it prohibits a government official from entering the contract, Trump was already the tenant before he became president. The House Democrats previously said the GSA told them it agreed with their interpretation that Trump’s becoming president does break the lease.
Trump turned over management of his businesses to his adult sons and another longtime associate, but he still owns them.
“We have no idea of what is going on inside that building, and it seems like GSA went dark right after the election,” Cummings said in a statement to POLITICO on Thursday. “This lack of transparency is extremely concerning. We need a straight answer — has GSA sent the Trump Organization a ‘30-day letter’ informing them they are now in breach of the D.C. hotel contract? If not, why not?”
Nancy Scola and Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.