Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order last week for his top brass to carry out President Donald Trump’s recent mandate to increase law enforcement pressure in Washington and implement a “beautification plan” for the city.
The president last month tasked the Interior Department with dismantling encampments of homeless people on land in Washington that is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, which includes the National Mall and Rock Creek Park. That responsibility falls to the acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, who is also the NPS comptroller, according to a secretarial order signed Friday by Burgum.
Burgum placed the responsibility for a cleanup plan on the assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, a post currently filled in an acting role by Maureen Foster. The assistant secretary is to create a program that at a minimum cleans up graffiti in public areas, restores federal monuments or memorials that have been damaged or removed and maintains cleanliness in public spaces, parks along highways and roads.
Additionally, the assistant secretary for policy, management and budget — a post currently filled in an acting role by Tyler Hassen, who was previously an employee of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — will also spearhead coordination with the director of the Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES), the chief of the U.S. Park Police and other relevant law enforcement to ensure the agency is represented on the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force established by Trump’s order.
