“Sistine Chapel of the New Deal” may not be sold

First Up

Washington Business Journal yesterday featured a big Washington culture story hidden inside an ordinary Washington real estate story. According to reporter Ben Peters, the U.S. General Services Administration is rethinking its plans to unload the Wilbur J. Cohen Building on Independence Avenue.

That ought to be big news even if you’re not personally looking to buy a disused federal property: The Cohen Building is home to priceless FDR-era murals by artists like Ben Shahn and Philip Guston. It’s been called “the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.” (I did an interview on this with the New Republic’s Timothy Noah back in October.)

When news first broke that the building might be unloaded as part of the Trump administration’s real-estate sell-off, and that a new buyer would likely knock the place down, activists organized a campaign to save it. The fate of the frescoes was the subject of voluminous national media coverage.

But the reaction in hometown D.C. was interesting, too. For decades, these American treasures had sat just off the Mall, on a major avenue, in a building officially open to the public. And yet a lot of sophisticated, art-loving Washingtonians found themselves admitting that they’d never seen them.

Now, maybe, they’ll get another chance.

What D.C.'s Talking About

WTF, OCF? Did that last-minute campaign finance fine against Janeese Lewis George constitute improper election interference? That’s what a top JLG ally is alleging, City Cast’s Ben Brasch reports. D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau wants the city’s inspector general to look into whether the Office of Campaign Finance followed its own protocols when it released the bombshell ruling against Lewis George days before the election. According to Nadeau, the office did something similar during the 2022 race. Keep watching: It’s an indication that Team JLG knows that the politics around their alleged improper coordination with labor unions will live on as an issue unless they find a way to squelch it.

See You at the Fair? After all that, the mammoth Great American State Fair opened on the Mall with a ferris wheel, livestock — and, at least on the afternoon of day one, a really small crowd, City Cast's Ben Brasch reports. Metro seating was ample, the entrance line was quick and large portions of the grassy expanse were unoccupied. City Cast’s food-and-fun guru Kaela Cote-Stemmermann visited toward the end of the day, finding similarly desolate scenes and nearly empty food halls, melted ice cream from an earlier power outage, and a Ferris wheel temporarily out of service. Also, outside food was banned and even the lemonade cost $9! (A piece from the Sun reported outrage over $24.96 pretzels.)

Stop that Fire Sale! City Cast real estate news ace Jaclyn Peiser stopped in at yesterday’s meeting of the Public Buildings Reform Board. Before your eyes glaze over, that’s a body that helps guide the big sell-off of federal property that, one way or another, will shape how D.C. looks for the next century. Their message: For the love of God, please stop unloading those buildings willy-nilly! “The market is not ready to absorb all of this additional square footage,” said board member and former U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano. Capuano was happy about a couple prior sales, but thinks the feds need a master plan — and an anchor tenant — in order to get the best value for their money.

Mail-in Chaos Ahead. The U.S. postmaster general told the Senate this week that, under a proposed new rule, the Postal Service won’t deliver mail-in ballots in states that don’t share voter rolls with the Trump administration. This could upend elections in D.C., one of the jurisdictions that don’t share the data. According to the Board of Elections and Ethics, 62% of votes in this month’s primary election came by mail or special ballots.

Reflecting Pool Latest. The Reflecting Pool will be drained again for new repairs right after July 4, the National Park Service said in a court filing. The filing also put into the court record Trump’s claim that a vandal cut the pool’s lining with a razor or sharp knife. The comic opera situation could evolve into a D.C. flashpoint along the lines of “sandwich guy,” the man prosecuted (and quickly acquitted) for tossing a sandwich at National Guard members last year. Adding to the drumbeat, U.S. Park Police released a video of a purported vandal dipping hands in the water. Security cameras, portable lights, and fencing have gone up around the pool.

Finally: An Arlington woman went to police after finding something strange in a hidden compartment of a recently-purchased Cadillac: A Culpepper County sheriff’s deputy badge in the name of Tom Homan, the White House border czar. WUSA reports that a former sheriff in the Virginia county deputized Homan some years ago. That sheriff, in turn, was convicted of bribery last year and subsequently pardoned by Trump. The report says the car may have once belonged to Homan.

Did someone forward you this email? To subscribe, visit https://dc.citycast.fm/newsletter

What To Do