A sitting U.S. senator is demanding that President Donald Trump pull out his own checkbook and reimburse taxpayers for one of the most visible federal failures of the year: a roughly $16 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that left the iconic Washington landmark a murky, algae-choked shade of green.
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) laid out the demand in a public letter released around June 25, 2026, calling on the president to personally cover the cost of a project that was rushed through without competitive bidding and then collapsed in full public view.
How a National Monument Turned Green
The Reflecting Pool sits at the heart of the National Mall, stretching between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It is one of the most photographed stretches of public space in the country, and it was supposed to get a refresh ahead of July 4th celebrations.
According to reporting and Hickenlooper’s own account, the administration wanted the pool painted an “American flag blue” in time for a holiday photo-op. To hit the deadline, officials skipped the normal competitive bidding process and pushed the work through on no-bid contracts. The result was the opposite of a postcard: the water turned fluorescent green with algae, and the expensive blue sealant began peeling off the bottom in sheets.
The $16 Million Price Tag
What stings most for critics is the cost. Reporting points to a $14.7 million no-bid contract tied to the blue sealant work and a separate $1.5 million no-bid contract for a water purification system. Together, that puts the total in the neighborhood of $16 million in taxpayer money committed to a project that failed almost immediately.
No-bid contracts are controversial precisely because they bypass the safeguards that competitive bidding is meant to provide. Without multiple companies competing on price and capability, there is little assurance taxpayers are getting a fair deal or qualified work. In this case, the finished product spoke for itself.
“Pay For It Yourself”
Hickenlooper did not mince words. “If you want a blue Reflecting Pool for a photo-op, you should pay for it yourself,” he wrote, arguing that Americans expect their tax dollars to “fix roads, support schools and protect our public lands” – not to “bankroll failed presidential vanity projects.”
He was also careful to draw a line between this failure and any act of vandalism. The green pool, he argued, was not the work of a saboteur but the predictable outcome of the administration’s own rushed decisions and shortcuts. The senator’s letter joins a broader push from Democratic lawmakers, including House oversight members, who have demanded answers about how the renovation was awarded and why it went so wrong.
What This Means for Americans
Beyond the embarrassment of a famous landmark turning green, the episode raises a basic accountability question: when public money is spent on a failed project, who pays for the do-over? Right now, the cost falls on taxpayers. Hickenlooper’s demand flips that script, arguing the person who pushed the vanity project should foot the bill.
Whether that demand goes anywhere is another matter. Presidents are rarely forced to personally repay federal spending, and there is no clear mechanism to compel it. But the letter keeps a spotlight on the spending – and on the no-bid contracts that made it possible.
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