House Committee Advances Bill to Save Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building and Its New Deal Murals
On Tuesday, a bill aimed at maintaining federal ownership of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building received approval from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. This legislation could safeguard the New Deal-era murals created by Ben Shahn and Philip Guston, which have been at risk due to a 2023 amendment that called for its sale. Introduced by Representative Scott Perry (R-PA), this bill represents a crucial initial measure to protect the Cohen. A report from the GSA in June highlighted that selling the building would lead to "extremely expensive" infrastructure costs, prompting the GSA to remove it from the market. The bill mandates that the Cohen be utilized as "swing space" for federal projects, thereby restricting renovation costs. It passed without opposition, and Mary Okin from the Living New Deal expressed her approval.
Key facts
- The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved a bill to save the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.
- The Cohen building contains murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and others, and has been called 'a kind of Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.'
- The bill is sponsored by Representative Scott Perry (R-PA), former chairman of the Freedom Caucus.
- A 2023 amendment to a water resources bill mandated the sale of the Cohen building.
- The GSA de-listed the Cohen building as a property for sale after Rich Butterworth warned of 'extremely expensive' construction work to separate its infrastructure from the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Federal Building.
- The bill requires the Cohen to be used as 'swing space' for other federal building sales or renovations, and limits expenditures to savings from other sales or renovations.
- The GSA estimated in 2025 that renovating the Cohen would cost about $1 billion.
- Mary Okin of the Living New Deal called for the release of a taxpayer-funded modernization feasibility study.
Entities
Artists
Institutions
- House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Freedom Caucus
- Voice of America
- United States Agency for Global Media
- General Services Administration
- Public Buildings Reform Board
- Living New Deal
- Health and Human Services Department
- The Washington Business Journal
Locations
- National Mall
- Pennsylvania
- Washington, D.C.
- Potomac River
- Berkeley
- C Street