Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Jim Banks
Introduced
Summary
This bill would make a national policy to prefer classical and traditional architecture for major federal public buildings and to ground design choices in regional traditions and public input. It directs the General Services Administration to prioritize designs that uplift public spaces, inspire the human spirit, and be visually identifiable as civic buildings while allowing alternatives only in defined circumstances.
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- Families and local communities: New federal buildings would be planned to respect regional architectural heritage, include substantial local public input, and aim to improve surrounding streets and landscapes so public spaces feel more civic and welcoming.
- Architects, design firms, and artists: The Administration must recruit and weight firms with classical or traditional experience in design-build competitions, require staff with relevant training, create a Senior Advisor for Architectural Design, and encourage use of living American artists where appropriate.
- Federal agencies and project selection: The bill covers courthouses, agency headquarters, National Capital Region buildings, and any public building with design and finish costs over $50 million in 2025 dollars. In Washington, D.C. classical architecture is the default and the Administrator must notify the Assistant to the President at least 30 days before approving a nonpreferred design and justify lifecycle costs.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 3 mixed.
Design competitions favor classical firms
This bill would require agencies to treat site choice as the first design step and use competitions where appropriate. It would direct GSA to recruit firms with classical or traditional experience and, in design-build competitions, list that experience as specialized and give it substantial weight. Agencies would also be asked to pay extra to avoid excessive uniformity and to get substantial local community input.
New federal civic design rules
This bill would set a national design policy for large federal public buildings. It would say buildings should uplift public spaces, inspire the human spirit, and be visually identifiable as civic buildings. It would make classical and traditional architecture the preferred style, and make classical architecture the default in Washington, D.C., unless there are exceptional reasons not to use it. It would define which buildings are covered, including courthouses, agency headquarters, National Capital buildings, and any public building costing more than $50,000,000 in 2025 dollars.
GSA Senior Architectural Advisor role
This bill would create a Senior Advisor for Architectural Design at the General Services Administration. The advisor would need experience in classical or traditional architecture. They would help write procedures, advise on standards, and guide design reviews and juries.
No private right to sue
This bill would say that nothing in the Act creates a legal right that a person can enforce against the United States or its agencies. In other words, people would not be able to sue the federal government for failing to follow this law.
Extra notice for non-classical designs
If the GSA Administrator wants to approve a design that departs from the preferred architecture, this bill would require a notice to the White House domestic policy assistant at least 30 days before approval. The notice would have to explain the justification and provide expected total lifecycle costs for the proposed design and for preferred-architecture alternatives that were seriously considered.
GSA must adopt design rules
This bill would require the GSA Administrator to update policies and procedures quickly to follow the Act's guiding principles. It would require GSA architects who review or approve designs to have formal training or substantial experience in classical or traditional architecture. It would make advancing the Act's goals a critical performance element for the Chief Architect and related Public Buildings Service staff.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Jim Banks
IN • R
Cosponsors
Roger Marshall
KS • R
Sponsored 9/4/2025
Marsha Blackburn
TN • R
Sponsored 9/4/2025
Cindy Hyde-Smith
MS • R
Sponsored 9/4/2025
Bill Hagerty
TN • R
Sponsored 9/9/2025
Mike Lee
UT • R
Sponsored 9/9/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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