WASHINGTON — President Trump has selected a new chairman to lead the federal agency charged with supervising major DC-area development projects — including oversight of the under-construction White House ballroom and the proposed triumphal arch along the Potomac River.
Mark Paoletta, appointed Wednesday by Trump to be chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, already holds four other jobs in the administration, including serving as general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
He replaces Will Scharf, who is transitioning into his new role as White House counsel.
Paoletta is known for his loyalty to Trump, including through his years in political exile. He is one of very few administration officials, alongside OMB Director Russ Vought, who returned last year to the same post as he held in Trump’s first term.
“I am honored to be appointed by President Trump to serve as Chairman of the NCPC,” Paoletta said.
“President Trump has transformed DC into a Capital worthy of the greatest nation in history. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further the president’s historic restoration and beautification of the National Capital Region, especially in the 250th year of our country’s independence.”
As is the case with other prominent administration officials — most notably Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Paoletta has been entrusted with a growing portfolio of management roles.
He also serves as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which the Trump administration has attempted to shrink or shutter, and as chief legal officer of USAID, which was all-but dismantled and rolled into the State Department last year, though it technically has not been abolished.
In addition, he is performing the duties of administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the federal office that reviews proposed regulations.
Paoletta has a long history in conservative legal circles and is a friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose 1991 nomination he helped guide as an assistant counsel to President George HW Bush.
His work at the NCPC will touch a wide range of proposed projects in the DC area, from shepherding the under-review arch near the Lincoln Memorial and overseeing security upgrades to Lafayette Park north of the White House to more mundane matters like alleyway access.
Other projects within the board’s oversight include the controversial ongoing Federal Reserve building renovation, a possible expansion of the National Zoo and the replacement of the former RFK stadium with an arena for DC’s professional football team.
Scharf, the outgoing chairman, became nationally well-known as Trump’s staff secretary, giving concise on-camera descriptions of the impact of various policy changes being adopted before Trump would sign the orders in the Oval Office.
Paoletta appears less frequently on camera, but joined Trump in February to announce the rollback of a regulation that underpins federal greenhouse gas restrictions, declaring: “This is the model of the Trump administration: everyone working together, mission aligned.”
