Rep. Waters to GSA: The U.S. is not a Trump Subsidiary, Terminate the Lease

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Denise Turner Roth urging the GSA to prepare to terminate President-elect Trump’s lease agreement to operate the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. The text of the letter is as follows:

The Honorable Denise Turner Roth
U.S. General Services Administration
301 7th Street SW

Washington, DC 20414

December 15, 2016

Dear Administrator Roth:

On December 5th, I wrote to you expressing concerns with the United States General Services Administration’s (GSA) current lease agreement with the Trump Organization for commercial use of the Old Post Office Building, the current site of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. 

As you know, the current lease prohibits elected officials from signing on as parties and sharing in any profits.  In light of President-elect Trump’s continued failure to announce a detailed plan to divest, sell, and transfer his assets into a qualified blind trust – and not simply transfer operational control to his children – the GSA, under its current leadership, must immediately notify Congress and President-elect Trump of its intent to terminate the lease, absent any viable proposal to cure the looming breach of its terms before President-elect Trump is sworn into office to formally become the next President on January 20, 2017. The potential conflicts of interest stemming from the current lease will compound significantly after the presidential inauguration.  Inaction by GSA now will result in President Trump having the unprecedented authority to appoint a new GSA Administrator and potentially exert improper influence in pursuit of a new lease that allows him to remain associated with the Trump International Hotel in DC while he is serving in office. 

As I stated previously, I do not believe that President-elect Trump’s mere separation from his business operations would fix the potential conflicts of interest presented by the existing lease, since it is the Trump namesake that is branded and sold around the world – a brand that has likely grown in value and profitability since the election.  My position appears to be shared by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).  In a December 12th letter to the Senate, OGE Director Walter M. Shaub, Jr. underscored that,  "[t]ransferring operational control of a company to one's children would not constitute the establishment of a qualified blind trust, nor would it eliminate conflicts of interest" under federal statutes governing conflicts of interest. 

Because President-elect Trump seems unlikely to take the necessary steps to avoid any conflicts of interest, I believe that the GSA under your leadership and the Obama Administration must address the upcoming breach of the agreement immediately and structure a plan that mitigates the potential damage and job losses that may result from an unstructured termination of the lease.  At the very least, the GSA, in consultation with the OGE, must issue forward-guidance to the incoming Trump Administration detailing how it can maintain the highest standard of ethics.  Despite what he believes, the President-elect cannot effectively be both President and a business tycoon.  The President should be solely focused on serving the interests of the American people, not on expanding his dynasty.  If he continues down this path, every action his Administration takes will be subject to scrutiny and question.

In addition to the actions you undertake in the short term to address the potential conflicts of interest raised by the current lease, it is my intent to introduce legislation in the next Congress to codify the prohibition in the lease to ensure that no elected official at any level of government can enter into or remain on a lease for profit and commercial use of land or property owned by the federal government.  The United States government is not a subsidiary of the Trump Organization, and a clear message should be sent by the GSA in the short term and by Congress next year to protect the integrity of this country and of the Office of the President. 

Sincerely,