Exclusive | Sen. Jim Banks moves to codify Trump order to make US architecture ‘beautiful again’

A new GOP-backed bill would codify President Trump’s executive order last month to make American architecture “great again” by favoring classical and traditional designs in federal buildings.

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) rolled out legislation late last week to declare in law that the federal government should give preference to classical and traditional architectures in its federal buildings.

“Americans want their federal buildings to reflect the strength, beauty, and tradition of our country,” Banks said in a statement to The Post. “This bill ensures our architecture honors our history, includes local input from our communities, and celebrates American tradition.”

The bill comes in response to Trump’s executive order last month to promote the building designs used in ancient Greece and Rome in the US.

Trump’s order applied specifically to new building projects expected to cost more than $50 million. It also creates a pathway for exceptions to use “brutalist” and “deconstructivist” architectural designs in certain instances if the president doesn’t reject them.

Brutalist architecture uses block-like and rigid geometric structures, while deconstructivism features fragmentation and skewed geometry.

Banks and Kiley’s bill heavily mirrors the language of Trump’s executive order in promoting classical architecture over brutalist and deconstructivist designs.

“For too long, our federal buildings in our nation’s capital and across the country have been marked by cold, impersonal structures that ignore the values and beauty our republic was built upon,” Kiley said in a statement.

“The bill I’m sponsoring will restore the classical spirit of democracy to the architecture of our federal buildings. This is a proud step toward honoring our heritage and inspiring future generations.” 

Their legislation permanently amends the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture to give preference to traditional and classical architecture the preference in federal buildings.

They also seek to encourage input from local communities on government building designs.

For much of US history, the government favored classical designs in key buildings such as the US Capitol and White House.

But in the 1960s, Daniel Patrick Moynihan penned the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which frowned on classical architecture in favor of more contemporary designs.

Under the US General Services Administration’s Design Excellence Program for federal building construction, only 8% of its buildings constructed use classical design.

Some 72% of Americans favor classical architecture design for federal buildings, according to a Harris poll.

Banks has previously pursued legislation to promote the use of classical and traditional architecture in federal government buildings. In 2023, for example, while serving as a congressman, Banks unveiled the “Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act.”

The Indiana Republican has also worked to codify Trump’s executive actions into law. In July, for example, he introduced legislation to codify the president’s executive order targeting wokeness in federally funded museums.