Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky
The National Civic Art Society celebrates the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148), signed into law by President Trump on February 3, 2026. This critical minibus funding package includes visionary report language in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) division that encourages the General Services Administration (GSA) to prioritize classical and traditional architectural styles in the design and planning of future federal buildings.
This guidance marks a meaningful reaffirmation of America's architectural heritage and a rejection of decades of uninspiring, modernist designs that have too often dominated federal construction.
The Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) accompanying the bill declares:
Classical Federal Buildings.—The agreement recognizes that Federal public buildings should be visibly identifiable as civic buildings and reflect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage. Public architecture should uplift and beautify public spaces, respect regional traditions, and ennoble our system of self government. Congress believes this is best achieved by designing Federal buildings in classical or traditional architectural styles. The agreement encourages the GSA to incorporate classical and traditional architecture in the planning and design of future Federal buildings.
This provision builds on prior efforts, including President Trump's Executive Order on Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again (issued in August 2025), which NCAS helped draft, and aligns with broader calls for cultural renewal that emphasize beauty, meaning, and human flourishing over fleeting trends or functionalism alone.
In September, Fox News published an op-ed by Senator Jim Banks (R-Indiana) and NCAS president Justin Shubow on legislation (S. 2726) that would beautify federal architecture by codifying President Trump's recent Order. There is a companion bill (H.R. 5194) pending in the House sponsored by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA). NCAS helped draft the legislation in both chambers.
In January, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy appointed Shubow chairman of the new Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council, which the U.S. DOT stated aligns with the recent Executive Order.
According to Shubow, "The National Civic Art Society commends the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, particularly those involved in the FSGG subcommittee, for including this important directive regarding federal architecture in the final package. Their leadership ensures that taxpayer-funded architecture serves not only practicality but also the higher purpose of ennobling the public realm. As the nation moves forward with new federal construction, this guidance provides a clear path toward buildings that inspire rather than alienate, that connect citizens to their heritage rather than distance them, and that reflect the timeless ideals upon which the Republic was founded."