The Department of Transportation announced Wednesday it is planning to reclaim management over Washington’s Union Station, a move that comes after President Donald Trump’s escalated deployment of troops in the nation’s capital.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the train station “has fallen into disrepair,” in a statement. “By reclaiming station management, we will help make this city safe and beautiful at a fraction of the cost.”
The transportation department is renegotiating an agreement with the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation – the nonprofit organization that oversees the station – and Amtrak, and expects “a formal action” confirming its renewed control by September.
The announcement comes after an executive order signed in March titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” directed “coordinated beautification plan” for facilities, monuments and parks in DC, the removal of graffiti, and to “ensure the cleanliness of public spaces.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai told CNN that the transportation department wants to “restore (Union Station) has a transportation hub that benefits our nation’s capital.”
He added: “President Trump pledged to Make DC Safe & Beautiful Again, and under Secretary Duffy’s leadership, the Department of Transportation is taking historic action to reinvest in Union Station.”
National Guard troops and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) patrol around the Union Station as part of heightened security measures in Washington, D.C., on August 28. – Fatih Aktas/Anadolu/Getty Images
It’s the latest move by a Trump administration to exert more control over DC, including a federal takeover of the city’s police department and deploying the National Guard. Trump said last Friday he will also be asking Congress for $2 billion to make DC “beautiful.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was supportive of the president’s efforts to improve infrastructure in the district, adding that if it takes on a larger role in Union Station, it could “be a very significant and good investment for the region.”
“If it’s about what Union Station needs for its total transformation, that would be an amazing initiative for the federal government to take on,” the Democrat said at a separate news conference. “It has suffered from not being able to get the money that it needs for the renovation.”
The department of transportation has owned Union Station since the early 1980s but its control has been gradually reduced under various agreements and leases. The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation has controlled the parking structure but received little revenue, according to the transport department.
Last year, Amtrak took over management and operations of the station under a sublease from the nonprofit. The company is a federally chartered corporation, which means the federal government is its majority stockholder. Its board of directors, which includes the US Transportation secretary, is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The announcement Wednesday comes partnered with the debut of Amtrak’s new Acela trains that will travel along the Northeast Corridor, cutting down time for passengers.
In recent weeks, members of the National Guard have been seen deployed around Union Station as part of the president’s anti-crime agenda in the capital. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week authorized members of the National Guard deployed to the capital to begin carrying weapons, marking a notable shift in guidance from the Pentagon that previously indicated National Guard members could be armed if circumstances warranted.
National Guard troops on the DC mission are also expected to begin assisting more with the “beautification” piece of the mission. A US official told CNN on Monday that the guard is working through what equipment will be needed and what sites specifically they’ll be assisting with, but tasks are expected to include things like painting over graffiti, picking up trash, and removing driftwood from the Tidal Basin by the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial.
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