US Interior Dept. Must Explain Trump Hotel Exemption Amid Shutdown - Senator

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2019) The US Department of Interior (DOI) should provide information regarding the decision to open the Old Post Office Tower located within the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. despite the government shutdown, Senator Gary Peters said in a letter.

"I write to request information regarding National Park Service (NPS) staffing of the Old Post Office Tower (tower) located within the Trump International Hotel during the current government shutdown," Peters said on Friday. "As the clock tower at Trump International Hotel in Washington stands open, staffed by NPS personnel, valuable public buildings such as the Smithsonian are shuttered."

The partial government shutdown means that most museums in the United States remain closed - however, the clock tower at Trump International Hotel was reopened on January 2.

The reopening of the tower while other critical NPS safety and security functions are still being affected by the government shutdown raises public concerns, the senator continued.

Peters explained that because of the shutdown other NPS sites and parks have closed and were not able to clean up trash or mitigate damage putting visitors and wildlife in jeopardy. Since the shutdown began, three people have died in national parks, the senator said.

The Old Post Office is a historic clock tower under lease by the General Services Administation (GA) to the Trump Organization requiring to grant public access to the tower. The tower was closed on December 22, 2018, when the shutdown stopped the funding for the GSA and the DOI, including the NPS and reopened on January 2 this year.

The government shutdown, which is at its 21st day, came as a consequence of disagreements between Trump and congressional Democrats over a spending bill. Trump has requested $5.7 billion for constructing a wall on the US border with Mexico, but Democrats do not approve of those funds.